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• Minister to state employer’s position next week
• Workers pin hopes on President’s April promise
  

Minister Prisca Mupfumira

Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
THE government will next week make an announcement on this year’s civil servants’ bonuses, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Cde Prisca Mupfumira, said yesterday.

Civil servants have said they are hopeful that President Robert Mugabe’s promise that they will get their 13th cheques this year without fail still stands.

In April, President Mugabe quashed plans by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Patrick Chinamasa, to suspend civil servants’ bonuses for two years, saying the government had no such policy.

Minister Chinamasa had said due to falling revenues, it was unsustainable for the government to continue paying bonuses.

The President said he was not consulted over the matter and reiterated that the decision would never be implemented.

In an interview, Cde Mupfumira could not be drawn into revealing when civil servants would start getting their money, but indicated that an announcement would be made next week.

“Civil servants have to get their bonuses but I’m not in a position to give dates yet. We will discuss with Treasury next week and announce the government’s position after the discussions,” she said.

Cde Mupfumira said the government remained committed to honouring its obligations with regards to meeting the entitlements of all public servants.

Efforts to get a comment from Minister Chinamasa were fruitless yesterday as his mobile phone was not being answered.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) chief executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu said they were pinning their hopes on the President’s promise.

“We’ve not received any communication from the government regarding this year’s bonuses but we will continue to hope that the government will pay all its workers their dues at the end of the year as promised by the President,” said Ndlovu.

“We expect the government to start communication soon and we’re not in a position to accept any excuse or failure to pay the bonuses before the end of the year as expected.”

The government staggered last year’s bonuses between November and April this year, citing dwindling revenue inflows.

The government has in the past months been exploring ways of cutting the bloated public service wage bill which is gobbling up to 82 percent of the budget and continuing to eat into funds earmarked for development.