ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe’s Public Servants have been assured there will be no job cuts following the recent 17.5 per cent pay increase.
Deputy Minister for Finance, Terence Mukupe (pictured) even hinted at further increases in the near future.
Addressing students at Nyadire Teachers’ College, Mr Mukupe said that while the Public Service wages bill was to set to increase, President, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Government had plans to contain the pressure on the Treasury.
“I think you have heard other parties saying the wage bill is too high, but the truth of the matter is that the salary given to our Civil Servants is very low,” Mr Mukupe told the cheering students.
“Our Civil Servants are underpaid. The money our teachers get is not what they should get.”
Zimbabwe spends more than 80 per cent of its revenue on salaries for its workers, a development that has been attributed to the low rate of infrastructure development.
“We need to grow our revenue base,” Mr Mukupe said.
He said the Government couldn’t reduce the service as this would mean cutting teachers, then the security sector and so on.
“We need to improve our revenue streams so that we are able to fund our service,” Mr Mukupe said.
“The truth of the matter is our Civil Service ratio to the population is very bad.”
He said the country’s student-to-teacher ratio is very high, with teachers dealing with up to 40 students in a class.
“Our health workers ratio is also high so is our police ratio to the population,” Mr Mukupe said.
“The key issue is revenue.”
Zimbabweans go to the polls in a General Election at the end of next month.
Harare, 9 June 2018
