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Patrick Chinamasa

Lovemore Mataire Harare Bureau
THE government has tasked the Ministry of Finance to coordinate efforts to reduce its huge wage bill currently gobbling up more than 80 percent of the National Budget and a head count of personnel and their duties has been initiated as part of efforts to trim the civil service.

A senior government official yesterday confirmed that the Civil Service Commission (CSC) had initiated a head count of personnel and their duties.

Some civil servants who are on leave have been or will be called back to their stations for the head count.

The ministries of Finance, Public Service and Social Welfare and the CSC have been tasked with finding ways to reduce the wage bill in line with earnings generated by government.

It is understood that the total government workforce rose from 315,000 in 2009 to 554,000 this year.

In an interview, the chairman of the CSC Mariyawanda Nzuwa yesterday confirmed that a committee had been set up to look at ways of trimming the civil service.

“It’s a committee headed by Minister (Patrick) Chinamasa but I’m not a member of that committee. I think it’s advisable to get more details from the horse’s mouth,” said Cde Nzuwa.

Although efforts to contact Cde Chinamasa failed last night, he recently told the media after a meeting of the Zambezi Authority Council of Ministers in Victoria Falls last Friday that both the government and the private sector had to adjust to the current economic reality to survive.

“Cabinet mandated the Public Service Commission (now Civil Service Commission) and us (Finance ministry) to look at the wage bill and identify possible ways that can be used to effect its reduction. We’ve been holding meetings whose details I can’t give now because recommendations have to go to Cabinet first,” said Cde Chinamasa.

The Minister said there was a need to reduce the wage bill in line with revenue collections and they were also exploring ways of amending labour laws to make them flexible when companies want to retrench personnel.

While Public Service and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira could not be reached for comment as she is out of the country on business, she recently said the Government was facing serious financial challenges and that there was a need to deal with the huge salary bill which has become unsustainable in light of depressed productivity in the economy.

“The Government is facing serious financial challenges and it’s not a secret. We’ve to revisit the size of the civil servants’ salary bill, which is taking 80 percent percent of the budget,” Mupfumira was quoted as saying.

Cde Mupfumira said this while touring Bulawayo’s social security facilities where she also said negotiations with civil servants were on-going as the Government was striving for a win-win situation. She said the Government was exploring ways of providing non-monetary benefits to civil servants and ruled out salary adjustments.