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In an interview at Esigodini on Friday, the Minister of Public Service, Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, said the Government was committed to restoring all the incentives that were eroded during the country’s economic crisis.

He announced an array of incentives designed to establish job security for civil servants and bring them at par with their counterparts in the private sector. “Before Christmas, we aim to resume the housing loan guarantee scheme, the mobility scheme (revolving car loans) and create a pension fund for civil servants, among other things,” said Prof Mukonoweshuro.

He said the incentives were mainly targeted at low ranking civil servants because, in the past there had been complaints that benefit schemes rarely cascaded to the lower echelons of the civil service.
Prof Mukonoweshuro said the issue of improving conditions of service for civil servants was one of the few on which there was unanimous agreement among policy makers in the country.
“All ministries and policy makers are singing the same hymn on this one. The major problem is that of low revenue collection by the Government. Until the economy improves to an extent that we can offer them salaries that are comparative to their regional counterparts, we will continue to explore alternatives to boost their morale,” said Prof Mukonoweshuro.

He said the proposed pension fund was the first of its kind in Zimbabwe. “All along we have been having pension schemes that are catered for in the annual budget. We now plan to have a proper pension fund that will be administered by professionals and the Government to ensure attractive retirement annuities for civil servants. The professionals would be able to invest funds on behalf of the workers with handsome returns. Workers would also be able to access loans from the fund,” he said.

“The mobility scheme will be run on a revolving loan basis. Beneficiaries will be enabled to buy cars, motorcycles or bicycles. They would then be given time to pay back the loans and the money would be used by other civil servants to purchase similar goods,” he said.
Prof Mukonoweshuro added that the Government would guarantee mortgages to ensure that civil servants are able to buy or build houses.-Chronicle reporter