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Dear Producer
It is sad that civil servants have had to strike to press government for a pay rise. I could have been striking as well if I were part of the civil service in Zimbabwe, especially as the current salaries are below the cost of living.
It is also sad that some of the union leaders have laid blame on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who promised civil servants better salaries when he took office as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe just more than a year ago. Instead of blaming the Prime Minister, the union officials who are blaming him should have politely asked him why their salaries were still low despite his promise, and I am sure some of the Prime Ministers' answers would have included the following:
1. The MDC had assumed that all parties to the agreement were honest, and the GPA was to be implemented within two months of forming government.
2. President Mugabe condones corruption by senior Zanu PF officials, as evident from his siding with Obert Mpofu who illegally took diamonds from the Reserve Bank which the Supreme Court had ruled had to be kept at the Reserve Bank while the ownership dispute was being resolved
3. President Mugabe spends a lot of money which could be used towards civil service salaries on foreign trips, consuming more than the entire budget of a crucial ministry like the Ministry of Health
4. Money that has been paid to ghost workers fraudulently planted onto the civil service payroll by Zanu PF for political expediency could have been channelled towards improving civil service
5. Land invasion has killed production, resulting in government loosing potential revenue from agricultural activity
6. The continued deterioration of the rule of law as a result of a partisan leadership of the police force.
7. Zanu PF is refusing to have Zimbabwe classified as a Highly Indebted Poor Country, a development which could enable Zimbabwe to access development funds
And signs that the civil service plight will get worse are written all over the wall, what with the Chinese Government who Mugabe and Zanu PF had thought would be an alternative donor saying it will not give any more assistance to Zimbabwe because Zimbabwe has failed to pay off its debts? What with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe being sue by various suppliers for failing to honour its obligations? What with the new hideous Indeginisation policy which is likely to kill production in the same way as the haphazard land grab policy killed agricultural production.
Civil servants must wake up to reality and instead of demanding unrealistic salaries, fight the system that has brought the economy to levels where it cannot sustain decent salaries for civil servants and other workers.
Benjamin
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