Opinion / Columnist
Government should pay civil servants their bonuses
26 Jan 2017 at 09:19hrs | Views
Having been birthed by the labour movement, amongst other key founding partners, the MDC is a social democratic political party that is passionately concerned about the welfare of the working class ; civil servants included. Thus, the issue of whether or not civil servants should be paid their annual bonuses for the year 2016 is certainly beyond debate. All civil servants deserve to be paid their 2016 annual bonuses as a matter of urgency.
It is a fact that Zimbabwean civil servants are amongst some of the lowest paid workers in the country. As if the issue of low salaries was not enough suffering for our downtrodden civil servants, over the past few years, they have been receiving their monthly salaries in a very haphazard and staggered fashion. As a result of this, the majority of civil servants are perpetually living in debt and thousands of them have been thrown out of their lodgings because they have consistently failed to timeously pay their monthly rentals. The children of civil servants have not been spared from this humiliation and suffering since most of them are turned away from schools and tertiary colleges as their parents and guardians are no longer guaranteed of a regular and consistent monthly salary. Put bluntly, Zimbabwean civil servants are overworked and severely underpaid.
The Zanu-PF regime is selfish, corrupt and insensitive. At a time when President Robert Mugabe and his family are enjoying an extended State – funded annual holiday in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Dubai, our civil servants are scrounging for a living as their meagre monthly salaries are staggered and as their 2016 annual bonus remains unpaid. Mugabe and his family are reportedly leasing a luxurious ten bed – roomed mansion in an upmarket district of Dubai at an annual rental of about US$500 000 ; paid for by the national treasury. How selfish and insensitive can the First Family be?
Cabinet Ministers and other top regime bureaucrats are always globe – trotting at State expense, flying business class to attend endless and purposeless meetings and conferences whilst the majority of civil servants are wallowing in penury and poverty. Certainly, this is not right. Our civil servants are being treated like second class citizens in their own country of birth. Not only is this demeaning and degrading ; it is also dehumanizing. If the Zanu-PF regime would put its priorities right, it should be very easy and affordable for the national treasury not only to timeously pay civil servants their salaries but to also timeously pay civil servants their much – deserved 2016 annual bonuses. Why should civil servants be promised to be given unserviced residential stands in lieu of their 2016 annual bonuses when Robert Mugabe takes no less than US$4 million in cash each time that he travels out of the country on his numerous and unnecessary foreign jamborees?
OBERT CHAURURA GUTU
MDC NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON
Source - Obert Gutu
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