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been awarded hefty increases.
This was also a shocker for the private sector employees who are struggling to make ends meet.
It is clear that austerity measures are what the present political set-up calls for if one is to consider the bloated nature of the political set-up.
The current Treasury boss, Finance Minister Tendai Biti is on record bemoaning the lack of fiscal space, which he argues, cannot allow for increases in salaries.
In his proposed US$2,7 billion budget for the year, the minister applied 80 percent towards recurrent expenditures.
Ironically the amount for wage bill was a bigger chunk of the total expenditure.
This is the same bill the treasury boss seems to be inflating by awarding salary increases to those living above the poverty datum when more than 78 percent of the populace are living from hand to mouth.
What the Finance Minister must take note of is that increases in salary levels for ministers had cascaded down it could have translated into a wide relief for the already restive civil servant community even if it was to be an 18 percent salary increment.
The 2011 national budget statement had a theme: Shared Economy, Shared Development, Shared Transformation- “Creating the Fair Economy”.
It is the same day during the afternoon of November 25 last year when Minister Biti promised the nation that the national cake would be shared from Zambezi to Limpopo.
He is the same minister who has been in the headlines questioning the handling of diamond mining and funds by Mines and Mining Development Minister Mpofu.
The million-dollar question is where did he get the funds to raise ministers’ salaries when he claims a greater chunk of the funds from diamond sales are unaccounted for.
The minister’s actions should be castigated in the strongest terms as this drafting of capitalist budgets with socialist innuendos is tantamount to fraudulent misrepresentation which can be interpreted as a crime against humanity if interpreted from a modern world perspective.
It is true that the country remains saddled with an external debt amounting to US$6,9 billion, which is some 103 percent of GDP.
It is argued that about 75,3 percent of this debt is medium to long-term and is owed to official creditors.
It is therefore shocking to have hefty salary increase for the custodians of the coalition Government when about 72 percent of GDP is represented by arrears.
The opportunity cost of awarding a salary increase to a well up citizen is too high for a country where unemployment rate is above 85 percent. Can one imagine how much a pensioner from the Ministry of Education is foregoing when his boss is now earning more than what an actuary has considered the realistic pension benefit for one who was in employment since 1980.
The same treasury boss who hasn’t yet discovered the best formula to solve the external debt problem of the nation sees the need for ministers to look better off than the populace they are serving.
A plethora of models had been mooted to try to correct our debt problem, some stirred superfluous debates like taking the HIPC route.
Can we really progress as a nation with this piece meal approach, it really irks nation builders to be subjected to such double talk.
The recent African Development Report on Infrastructure was not impressive to say the least.
There is no way such a credible organisation can set a target required amount for infrastructure of US$14 billion, it is an overstatement which is capable of derailing the economic turnaround efforts if the targeted figure cannot be attained.
In his position paper last year, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai clearly stated that we need an average of US$8 billion to see this economy recovering to its rightful position.
Such contradiction of macro-economic targets does not augur well for Zimbabwe, which desperately requires foreign direct investment.
We have not yet seen an economic blueprint on Infrastructure Rehabilitation for Zimbabwe from the responsible ministry but we seem to enjoy digesting the raw data from ADB.
It is a well known fact that the consummation of Global Political Agreement which saw the coming on board of the inclusive Government can be viewed as one of the best events of the past decade.
In the same vein the primary idea behind the Government of National Unity was to arrest the economic decline which was taking a toll on the average citizen.
The expanded nature of the Government is already a burden to the poorly performing fiscus if recent revenue collections for the year are to be looked at against the targeted revenues.
It means the current status is not sustainable in the long run for a US$5,5 billion economy.
This will leave one with a hanging question on what is better to have elections for the sake of streamlining the Government size or soldiering on with an inclusive government which is over-paid.
This is the sole reason why economics and politics form different sides of the same coin.
It is a tragicomic misconception to argue that elections will derail economic progress when at the same time lack of elections has proven to be an anathema to economic growth across the world.
Africa and some parts of the Middle East are the worst affected as witnessed by political tension in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Libya, Jordan and Sudan.
Surely the recent salary hikes for ministers is a comedy to the turn around efforts because Zimbabwe’s current state does not require affluent ministers.
One can not also justify that the recent salary increments will suffocate corruption in the public sector by making ministers better off.
A corrupt Government minister will still find himself “earning” less than what his or her clandestine activities will produce. It is time to have servants in the Cabinet chambers not flamboyant politicians who gain political capital in order to consolidate economic capital.
With all this in mind, the argument is not to stop awarding ministers what they rightfully deserve but the timing definitely determines what they rightfully deserve and what they do not deserve.
A divide and rule approach does not work at this juncture, instead civil servants’ salaries should have been considered ahead of any commitments whatsoever.
In God I have faith and Quote of the week: “You can do 99 percent of the things right but not possess a winning attitude, you will fail.” (Art Williams)
l Christopher Takunda Mugaga is Head of Research at Econometer Global Capital. He can be contacted via e-mail: [email protected] or cell: +263 772 340 353, +263 776 266 062.