Bloated govt workforce: we are our own enemy

Out of ignorance, I recently teased my friend who used to drive a Land Rover Discovery 4 but is now driving a Toyota Corolla Bubble shape with an engine size of a mere 1.4 liters. I changed my attitude towards him after he explained why he had to change car from a fuel guzzler to an economy one. Financial prudence dictates that one must take such radical moves when things are not well.

I have also read about South Sudan which is currently scaling down staff at its foreign embassies amid an economic crisis caused by the oil-producing nation's two year old civil war. I saluted them for taking a wise financial decision and at the same time I wondered why we don't take lessons from such. I have even seen a myriad of embassies in this country which are manned by just two people. Business goes on smoothly at such embassies.

Government, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has identified a bloated civil service as an albatross around Government efforts to turn around the economy. As such, the Public Service Commission was assigned to assist in the reduction of the wage bill. The wage bill currently stands at 83% and it has to be reduced to 53%. That reduction will see government remaining with surplus funds for ministerial operations.

In view of that, the PSC has already done away with over 22 000 vacant posts so as to control the wage bill. However, it is quite disturbing when you learn that the major stumbling block to this national effort is none other than the ministers themselves. I am certain that the decision to scale down government workforce emanated from cabinet where these ministers sit. It is therefore an appalling insincerity for ministers to sabotage a collective decision they contributed and ascended to, more so when such a decision has a national benefit.

Dr Mariyawanda Nzuwa, the Chairperson of the PSC recently told the parliamentary portfolio committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare that the ministers were largely responsible for the bloated government workforce since they demand additional staff in their offices. He said despite being overstaffed, these ministers still demanded these additional staff from outside the civil service structure. That alone shows that the ministers are not real. If they really wanted additional staff, they must let PSC find them from a pool of the civil service rather than bringing them from outside and arm-twist PSC to employ them. One does not need to be clever to see that the ministers are just creating jobs for their relatives and friends.

Dr Nzuwa said if he refused to give them the additional staff, they would accuse him of stifling their work. Dr Nzuwa must learn to be firm even if it means facing persecution for what is right. He must know that by succumbing to the ministers' selfish demands, his work is also being stifled. The nation wants to see the economy on its feet again and the reduction of the wage bill is one way to do it. He must therefore choose between satisfying the national vision and the egotistical tastes of certain ministers. He must learn to say a big NO if issues of national interests are at stake and that way he will maintain his integrity.

Our economy is not fit enough to withstand such profligacy. Honestly a private secretary and a personal assistant duplicate duties. There is no need of maintaining both of them under one boss. Having complained about the behaviour of these ministers, Dr Nzuwa must not end there. He must rectify this problem soonest.

Government must also take a leaf from South Sudan. There is just too much staff at our foreign embassies. Unfortunately the output from such embassies does not tally the size of same. If possible, government can even reduce the embassies themselves and remain with essential ones.

We have always encouraged government to reduce the cabinet itself. There are ministries that can be merged because there is a very thin line between their functions. This is the reason why we have witnessed some clashes between ministers of different ministries over policing of some issues that overlap. For instance, when Cde Saviour Kasukuwere, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing banned housing cooperatives, Cde Sithembiso Nyoni objected saying she is the one responsible for cooperatives as the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Development.

Even our Parliament is just too big considering our population and the ailing economy. It's shocking that the countries which have better economies and bigger populations have lean parliaments. A close scrutiny of the sizes of parliaments of other countries with bigger economies and populations can illustrate how bloated our parliament is. Yes the wage bill can be reduced if there is a political will without necessarily laying off poor the civil servants.