Civil Service Bonus Suspension: Is it the solution?

By Tinashe Chipembere

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has revealed that government will not pay civil servants bonuses this year and the coming one. In addition, Chinamasa also revealed that the gorvenment will not be recruiting workers in the same period. This comes as the cash strapped government is trying to minimise recurrent expenditure that is gobbling up to 85% of its revenue

The move is part of the government's measures to redress the buldging wage bill the country has to pay per month. In his address the Minister said that the state is paying a wage bill of 280 million dollars monthly. As such the indefinate cut of bonuses will allow the economy to grow as the funds will be channelled to other productive sectors of the economy.Chinamasa said his ministry is aiming at reducing the wage bill drastically to 40% and the temporary scrapping of civil service bonuses is just the beginning of a series of measures to attain the above.

Reducing the current wage bill does make sound economic sense, however the question  on many Zimbabweans' lips is does the means justify the ends? The economy is grossly under perfoming and bonuses alone will not lift the ailing economy from this abys. Zimbabwe has 26 ministries with some of them duplicating some other ministries. Case in point are the Lands and rural ressettlement and  the Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development ministries. A close look at the two ministries reveals a difference in semantics raising the question, Does an underperfoming economy like ours need that?As such it is wise for the government to merge some of these ministries in order to cut down the wage bill. Yes a lot of people stand to greatly affected by retrenchments should the government consider merging ministries which by and large appear to be a way of rewarding political loyalty more than the need  for their existence. 

The economy and politics should be two separate fronts, granted politicians wield the power to steer the economy in the direction they deem right. But if the country is to employ thousands of workers in ministries that do one and the same thing with difference only in semantics then our future is doomed. Ministers earn  substantial salaries and t perks that generally come with their office to include top of the range vehicles. Merging therefore presents an opportunity for the gorvenment to trim the work force thereby bringing the wage bill down.

The government has over the past years been in the process of finding ghost workers and striking them off the payroll. To date it is however unclear as to how many so called ghost workers have been stricken from from the payroll and how many still enjoy the full benefits of government funds without ever needing to leave their beds. The wage bill is taking strain from such workers who do not occupy any office in government but are getting paid. A comprehensive audit in all gorvenment departments should be conducted by private auditors with autonomy from the government so as to bypass all the red tape and arrive at factual and accurate figures which should be made public. There is need for a pragmatic look at the government workforce removing the bystanders like the so called youth officers. What exactly does a youth officer do?

It is an unhealthy situation when the government is reliant upon taxes such as Pay as you earn (P.A.Y.E) and value added tax to pay its workers.  The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and Zimbabwe National Road Authority (ZINARA) declare quarterly earnings worth hundred of millions. Question is if the revenue genarated by Zimra is not used to stimulate economic growth then what is it being used for? The country is further sinking in the doldrums and it does not require a financial expert to know that the government requires all funds it can get its hands on. Road users pay a minimum of US $2 toll fees and a maximum of of $10. The money genarated by Zinara is definately not being channelled to the maintanance of roads because the roads are in dire need of major face lifts. Again the question is where is all this money going? A good but not educated guess is that the funds are being used to acquire top of the range vehicles to transport staff to toll gates. Is it logical to buy a fleet of Ford Rangers, BT50s, Isuzu and Toyota D4Ds to ferry workers to toll gates? Is it not infact indulging in unnecessary luxury the country can not afford? Another case of a plethora of government profligacy.But rather we say the solution is to put bonuses off the table for civil servants for the next 2 years or indefinately. I say the solution lies in how the government spends that little money available.

The Zimbabwean economy like any other economy is not autonomus but rather is influenced by exterior forces. With the declaration that there will be no bonuses for the next two years which are not a right by the way, government has closed the door on increments. What is worrying is how much our economy flactuates, fuel prices keep going up propmting other prices to sour. Effectively the cost of living rises and with a fixed salary for the next two years it won't be shocking if the country has an income per capita of US $2. Yet the condition of the reintoduction of bonuses is a more vibrant economy and better perfomance by the civil service. Question is how does the civil service perform better when they are not earning enough. Let me be quick to say that I'm not a proponent of corruption but at this rate the government has opened the door to corruption, not that there isn't any corruption as we speak. Private institutions are more or less going to follow the precedence set by the government and consequently will use that as an excuse not to pay bonuses for their workforce. But that again it is not a right enshrined in the constitution so who cares. 

Economist from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have long said the country;s wage bill is unsustainable and I am sure the Minister will rush to use that as defence for his unpopular measure. If the government is really serious about reducing the wage bill cutting bonuses will never be part of the solution, measures need to start from the top, remove duplkicating ministries, Deputy ministers, ghost workers and all those lavish perks accorded to the ministers. But that is just one man's opinion.