Opinion / Columnist
Civil servants must bear with government
30 Jun 2016 at 13:44hrs | Views
Civil servants allegedly rejected the $100 offered to them as advance payment to cater for their transport while waiting for their full June salary in July. While we sympathize with the civil servants, they must not get lost to the fact that government is facing financial challenges due to the depressed economy.
Civil servants leaders must appreciate that at least government is doing everything in its power to pay civil servants under this harsh economic environment. The civil servants leaders had threatened that they would stop going to work because they had exhausted the transport allowance they were paid by government for the month of June. Now that the government has decided to address their concern, the civil servants are now changing goal posts. This then raises suspicion and their sincerity is now dubious.
The civil servants leaders must separate political activism from bread and butter issue of the government workers. We know that some of the leaders are declared opposition activists. I do not think they share the same view with the ordinary civil servant in Buhera. I talked to one friend from Murambinda High School who said it was better to get that $100 than to wait for pay date on 7 July. He said whether they reject the $100 or not, that would not change their fate. Indeed, that will not change anything. You cannot squeeze government to produce money because it is not there.
The civil servants must take a look at what is happening in the private sector. Workers have gone for months without a cent. Besides that, these private sector workers are being laid off willfully and they are going home with virtually nothing. The government has not retrenched anyone and that fact must be appreciated. Government has actually promised the civil servants that it will revert to normal pay dates starting in July. I know some are doubtful but believe you me, government always keeps its promises. When it promised civil servants some bonuses, some doomsters were quick to dismiss that as a political gimmick. Although it came late and staggered, government has already paid up 2015 civil servants bonuses. So feel comfortable in the promise of the government.
President Mugabe might have his weaknesses as a human being; workers are at the center of his heart. He is the one who directed that civil servants get their bonuses. He does not want to see a dejected civil servant. It's unfortunate that the delay in payment of salaries is being politicized for political expediency.
In the context of this financial challenge, government must look outside the box and think of other non-monetary incentives for its workers. It must satisfy the physiological needs of its workers such as shelter. Most of the civil servants are lodgers but there are vast pieces of land around the urban centers which can be freely given to civil servants for development as residential stands. I hear the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing is now selling state land to a few lucky government workers at commercial rates. That is wrong.
Most of the civil servants are a dignified lot who are bound by Public Service Regulations instruments that prohibit them from behaving like any other citizen. For instance, they could not join in the rash for illegal settlements that were mushrooming in urban centers across the country. They could just watch while vendors and the ordinary street man and woman parcel themselves illegal stands which were to be later rationalized. Government should just make sure that before rationalizing illegal settlements, its workers have a roof above their heads.
There are many other incentives that government can extend to its workers. They can be exempted from paying duty on certain imports like cars. The CMED car loan facility can be revived and managed well. As for teachers, I think it's high time that School Development Associations are allowed to incentivize teachers at their schools as was the situation before. As parents, we are more than willing to incentivize these teachers for the sake of our children. Government must not cry for us. When it becomes a burden, we will inform the relevant authorities. The problem is that government cried more than the bereaved. They removed an incentive which they failed to replace.
Civil servants leaders must appreciate that at least government is doing everything in its power to pay civil servants under this harsh economic environment. The civil servants leaders had threatened that they would stop going to work because they had exhausted the transport allowance they were paid by government for the month of June. Now that the government has decided to address their concern, the civil servants are now changing goal posts. This then raises suspicion and their sincerity is now dubious.
The civil servants leaders must separate political activism from bread and butter issue of the government workers. We know that some of the leaders are declared opposition activists. I do not think they share the same view with the ordinary civil servant in Buhera. I talked to one friend from Murambinda High School who said it was better to get that $100 than to wait for pay date on 7 July. He said whether they reject the $100 or not, that would not change their fate. Indeed, that will not change anything. You cannot squeeze government to produce money because it is not there.
The civil servants must take a look at what is happening in the private sector. Workers have gone for months without a cent. Besides that, these private sector workers are being laid off willfully and they are going home with virtually nothing. The government has not retrenched anyone and that fact must be appreciated. Government has actually promised the civil servants that it will revert to normal pay dates starting in July. I know some are doubtful but believe you me, government always keeps its promises. When it promised civil servants some bonuses, some doomsters were quick to dismiss that as a political gimmick. Although it came late and staggered, government has already paid up 2015 civil servants bonuses. So feel comfortable in the promise of the government.
President Mugabe might have his weaknesses as a human being; workers are at the center of his heart. He is the one who directed that civil servants get their bonuses. He does not want to see a dejected civil servant. It's unfortunate that the delay in payment of salaries is being politicized for political expediency.
In the context of this financial challenge, government must look outside the box and think of other non-monetary incentives for its workers. It must satisfy the physiological needs of its workers such as shelter. Most of the civil servants are lodgers but there are vast pieces of land around the urban centers which can be freely given to civil servants for development as residential stands. I hear the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing is now selling state land to a few lucky government workers at commercial rates. That is wrong.
Most of the civil servants are a dignified lot who are bound by Public Service Regulations instruments that prohibit them from behaving like any other citizen. For instance, they could not join in the rash for illegal settlements that were mushrooming in urban centers across the country. They could just watch while vendors and the ordinary street man and woman parcel themselves illegal stands which were to be later rationalized. Government should just make sure that before rationalizing illegal settlements, its workers have a roof above their heads.
There are many other incentives that government can extend to its workers. They can be exempted from paying duty on certain imports like cars. The CMED car loan facility can be revived and managed well. As for teachers, I think it's high time that School Development Associations are allowed to incentivize teachers at their schools as was the situation before. As parents, we are more than willing to incentivize these teachers for the sake of our children. Government must not cry for us. When it becomes a burden, we will inform the relevant authorities. The problem is that government cried more than the bereaved. They removed an incentive which they failed to replace.
Source - Rufaro Mufundirwa
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