President Emmerson Mnangagwa today called on all public servants to lead by example and serve the people with modesty and humility.
He said cutting expenditure played an important role as Zimbabwe restructures and builds its economy.
“The sacrifices we make today are the foundations of a better tomorrow,” he said.
Mnangagwa and senior members of his administration cut their salaries by 5 percent but people have said this is not enough.
Members of Parliament demonstrated that they were not prepared to sacrifice by pushing Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube to increase their budget from $101 million to $145 million insisting that he must buy them the latest 4 by 4 vehicles.
Civil servants such as doctors and teachers have been demanding salaries in United States dollars with some teachers marching from Mutare to Harare to press for their demands while doctors have been on strike since 1 December.
The country’s economy has not been doing well since October when Ncube introduced a 2 percent tax and central bank governor John Mangudya reintroduced foreign currency accounts.
Ncube argued that people had embraced the 2 percent tax but were more worried about escalating prices.
Opposition legislators insisted that people were complaining about the 2 percent tax but the tax was approved when Joseph Chinotimba asked for the House to be divided so that they could vote on the tax.
80 voted for the tax and 26 against.
Ncube said that the tax will be used to alleviate poverty like by raising the $310 million for devolution.
He also said part will be used to finance Parliament’s budget which was increased by $44 million.
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