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Ghost Workers: A Testament of Government's Failure in Rationalising the Wage Bill: Zimcodd
16 Apr 2022 at 19:37hrs | Views
The findings of the Auditor-General on the Appropriation Accounts, Finance and Revenue Statements and Funds Accounts for the financial year ending December 31, 2020, stated that approximately $2.5 billion was siphoned through the wages bill, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) reported.
"Total employment costs paid by the Salary Service Bureau (SSB) were 9% of what the Commission paid which was 91%. The total employment costs reported by the Commission amounted to $2 732 262 069 which did not agree with the total on the SSB payroll print out figure of $221 446 282 resulting in an unreconciled variance of $2 510 815 787 for the same period," Zimcodd said.
"As a result, I could not confirm the accuracy of the expenditure on compensation of employees' costs disclosed in the financial statements.The failure by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and SSB to reconcile and rationalise the wages bill is a testament of the failure of the Transitional Stabilisation Program (TSP) which the government glorified. According to section 253 of the TSP, which outlines the Public Service Wage Policy, the government intended to reduce the wages bill from 68.9% to 50%."
Zimcodd said the primary objective behind this was to eliminate ghost workers and broaden the fiscal space which had contracted due to unaccounted wage bill expenditures.
"The government has failed again to account for ZWL 2.5 billion that was siphoned through the wages bill. Ghost workers have always been problematic in Zimbabwe. In 2011 approximately 75 0005 ghost workers were unmasked on the wages bill, in 2013, 4006 ghost workers were also found on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation bill while in 2020, 10 0007 ghost workers were unearthed again. In 2019, the government was again prejudiced of approximately US$ 4 million by ghost workers8. To the surprise of citizens, despite all the financial consequences that the ghost workers infuse on public finance management the government has failed to make an effort to address such malpractices. Therefore, there is a possibility that those with the power to curtail ghost workers are the ones who are benefiting from it," it said.
"Total employment costs paid by the Salary Service Bureau (SSB) were 9% of what the Commission paid which was 91%. The total employment costs reported by the Commission amounted to $2 732 262 069 which did not agree with the total on the SSB payroll print out figure of $221 446 282 resulting in an unreconciled variance of $2 510 815 787 for the same period," Zimcodd said.
Zimcodd said the primary objective behind this was to eliminate ghost workers and broaden the fiscal space which had contracted due to unaccounted wage bill expenditures.
"The government has failed again to account for ZWL 2.5 billion that was siphoned through the wages bill. Ghost workers have always been problematic in Zimbabwe. In 2011 approximately 75 0005 ghost workers were unmasked on the wages bill, in 2013, 4006 ghost workers were also found on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation bill while in 2020, 10 0007 ghost workers were unearthed again. In 2019, the government was again prejudiced of approximately US$ 4 million by ghost workers8. To the surprise of citizens, despite all the financial consequences that the ghost workers infuse on public finance management the government has failed to make an effort to address such malpractices. Therefore, there is a possibility that those with the power to curtail ghost workers are the ones who are benefiting from it," it said.
Source - Byo24News
