Zimbabwe’s civil servants, whose pay dates have been playing yoyo of late, will receive their December salaries after Christmas this year according to a schedule released by the Civil Service Commission. Teachers and soldiers, who constitute the majority of the civil service will, however, be paid before the biggest Christian holiday with teachers receiving their salaries on Christmas Eve. According to the schedule soldiers and teachers will be paid almost mid-month each month while the rest of the civil servants will be paid just before month-end. Pensioners will be paid on the last day of each month. The government has this year been struggling to meet its US$155 million monthly salary bill. It reportedly employs 230 000 workers but there have been reports that there could be as many as 75 000 ghost-workers. A report by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee tabled last month showed that the Ministry of Agriculture was paying 11 employees who had long left the civil service.
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