Zimbabwe civil servants not happy with bonus based on basic salary

Zimbabwe’s civil servants are not happy with the government’s decision to pay them bonuses based on their basic salaries.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced on Thursday that civil servants will be paid their bonuses before the end of the year but this would be based on their basic salaries.

Previously they were paid bonuses which included their allowances.

Cecilia Alexander, chairperson of the Apex Council which negotiates salaries and perks for civil servants with the government, told the Sunday News that while civil servants were happy that their bonuses would be paid this year they were not happy with the new formula.

“While we welcome the payment of bonuses this calendar year, we completely reject the decision to pay bonuses based on basic salary as this amounts to a unilateral withdrawal of a benefit much against the law of the land,” she said.

Bonuses for civil servants have been paid over several months and were paid the following year.

Former Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa tried to cancel the bonuses because the government had no money but he was overruled by former President Robert Mugabe.

Most people thought that Ncube who has vowed to cut government expenditure would scrap the bonuses to cut the government wage bill which accounts for 90 percent of government expenditure.

He said he is introducing biometric registration for all civil servants in January to weed the public service of ghost workers.

Reports have said Zimbabwe could have as many as 75 000 ghost workers but audits say they are just over 3 000.

Ncube has already said that the government is laying off nearly 3 000 youth officers.

“To weed out these ghost workers, the Budget proposes to introduce a biometric registration of all civil servants, with effect from 1 January 2019,” he said.

“The registration process will be rigorous and will involve capturing data on letter of appointment, academic and professional qualifications, national identification documents, employment code numbers, and biometric data.

“Biometric data will involve capturing of one’s unique physical attributes such as fingerprints, DNA, iris and retina pattern, using ICT.”

Ncube said the new system will ensure that every person being paid by the government for services rendered is properly accounted for.

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