Biti must give civil servants their money

The Minister of Finance,  Tendai Biti must come out clear on the salaries of civil servants and also tell the civil servants  the real position on what is happening concerning their salaries.

From the look of things, Minister Biti is the one who is failing to give the civil servants some competitive salaries. The President R .G Mugabe assured the nation  early this year when in Ethiopia that  civil servants would soon get their salary increments as the diamond sales improve.

In March the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Obert Mpofu in  told the nation that Minister Biti had written to him accepting  that he had received some money from the diamonds sales. Minister Mpofu went on to say that an  amount of  $174 000 000 had been remitted to the Treasury for Minister Biti to give  civil servants their salary increment.

Godwills Masimirembwa, the Chairman of Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) also told the nation in march 2011 that $174 000 000 was remitted to the Treasury for Minister Biti to use it for government purposes which include payment of civil servants' salaries.

Last year there were successful auctions of diamonds and this raised a lot of expectations from government workers. It was also said in September 2010 that civil servants would get salary increment in October 2010 but Biti decided to refuse salary adjustments in that month.

Biti is so difficult that he does not  listen to the president of his own party Morgan Tsvangirai. In March 2010, Prime Minister Tsvangirai assured the nation that salaries for civil servants would be quarterly reviewed but Biti thwarted that move. Biti went on to say that the government had no money to pay competitive salaries for civil servants

One wonders who Biti is in this country who does not take orders from his seniors He seems to be his own boss. Biti you must listen to the voices in the wilderness. It is not  time to play games but be serious with other people's needs.

On 01 July 2011,  the Apex Council the board that represents all government workers in the country issued a statement in which it stated that the government had agreed to award some civil servants  some salary adjustment amounting to fifty percent(50%) of the poverty datum line (PDL).

This amount, although short of the PDL, was welcomed by various workers but to Tendai Biti who sees himself as a Super Minister is all nonsense to him.

Tendai Biti who carries a feminine name was bound to have a motherly love to the suffering civil servants but to him he enjoys their suffering.

He always wants to justify his refusal to award some civil servants some salary adjustments on flimsy reports that the government cannot award the civil servants money as the treasury is empty. He also says that there are about seventy-five thousand (75 000) ghost workers on the government payroll hence he cannot  release funds for some salary adjustment as long the government fails to fire them.

Well, if the government is having such a number of  ghost workers and Biti fails to stop their salaries, who is to blame here?. Is it the genuine workers who are supposed to suffer because of Biti's failure to do his job expeditiously? Is it not wise for Biti to get  rid of such ghost workers so that he diverts that money to civil servants?

For how long are the government workers  going to suffer because  of Biti's incompetence in running a government purse?

For the record I cannot remember when the ZANU PF government failed to heed  civil servants' cry for salary increment.

Even Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC-T leader knows quite well that during his days when he was the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) the then ZANU PF government used to listen to the workers' concerns by reviewing their salaries timely.

Had it been that there is no inclusive government right now civil servants could have been given their salary adjustments in June as they were used to.

Biti is playing political games with the workers' stomachs, as he wants to be felt that he can even challenge the executive powers of the Head of State, President Mugabe.

He  is trying his level best to create a situation where the workers would see him as the one who has got the final say in the country on all monetary issues and  to paint a bad picture on President Mugabe so that next time workers wont take him seriously.

As time goes, the truth will come out and God will judge severely those who enjoy a lot on the suffering of the innocent workers.