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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
THE Government has ordered the removal of a $250 000 annual “protocol” budget from the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef), saying the money was open to abuse.

At the public consultation for the amendment of the Manpower Planning and Development Act (Chapter 28:02) at Gweru Polytechnic College on Monday, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Minister, Professor Amon Murwira, said the budget was allegedly being exploited for example to purchase bicycles under the guise of being used for the protocol of the minister.

“We intend to reform the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund to align it with good corporate governance practice by putting in place a Board to be appointed by the Minister responsible for the administration of the Act. There used to be a $250 000 budget for the Minister called protocol. I said to deal with corruption at Zimdef, let’s scrap it, I said let us remove it because it was prone to abuse by the Ministers.

“Some were buying bicycles and wheelbarrows with the money which is some form of abuse while children had no funds or resources to develop skilled manpower in the country,” he said.

In 2016, former Higher and Tertiary Education minister Prof Jonathan Moyo was accused by the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission (ZACC) of siphoning close to US$270 000 out of Zimdef.

former Higher and Tertiary Education minister Prof Jonathan Moyo

Prof Moyo through his personal assistant allegedly used close to US$50 000 from the fund to purchase bicycles, which he distributed to his constituency as well as a US$24 000 loan which he repaid.

“So we will have the board and have a chief executive officer with a contract of only two five year terms whose duties will be to monitor and control the public funds and property so that they are not abused,” said Prof Murwira.

He expressed concern that while Zimbabwe has a high literacy rate of over 94 percent, its skills level is a mere 38 percent.

He said the need by almost everyone to import goods and services was a true reflection of the fact that the country was using only 38 percent skills levels.

Prof Murwira said the country has an acute shortage of skills in the engineering and technology, natural and applied sciences, medical and health sciences as well as the agricultural sectors.

“From the colonial era to date we have been in a cage, in a box where we were being trained to look for jobs and not to create jobs and that has to come to a stop now.

“With this 94percent literacy rate, the success of our basic education system must now be translated into national competitive advantage through equipping graduates that pass through our higher and tertiary education system with more relevant modern skills for economic prosperity,” he said.

Prof Murwira said for Zimbabwe to attain the vision of a middle income eonomy by 2030 and address social challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, there was need to invest in relevant education, training and skills development and thus the need to amend the Manpower Planning and Development Act.

“We need to do away with a happy slave mentality where one is given a car, an office with a television so that he or she doesn’t think of innovation to a situation whereby we think of innovation. The construction of innovation hubs started at six universities to foster the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship as we move from job seekers to a country that creates employment,” he said.