Bonus row exposes Zim rot

Harare - The bonus row that saw Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe give a dressing down to Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has all but exposed the dire situation the Zimbabwean government is finding itself in.

In a surprise pronouncement at the 35th Independence Day celebrations at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Saturday, Mugabe expressed utter disgust at Chinamasa's announcement that the country’s civil servants will not be receiving bonuses until 2017.

“The Cabinet did not approve all that and the Presidency was never, never consulted on the matter. We were never consulted; the three of us and that is myself and the vice-presidents. And we say that is disgusting to us and it will never be implemented at all,” said Mugabe.

It is however Chinamasa’s response to Mugabe’s outburst that has exposed how deeply the country’s economic problems are entrenched.

While acknowledging that he might have erred, Chinamasa told The Herald that it was inevitable not to make mistakes, given the heavy budgetary pressures weighing on Treasury's shoulders.

“Primarily the challenges we are facing (are) in meeting the 2014 bonus commitments,” with university lecturers yet to receive their 2014 bonuses.

“The challenges (have) to do with the payment of pensions and wages for our foreign missions,” he added, referring to government’s failure to submit pensions as well as pay wages for foreign missions, including Zimbabwe’s ambassadors to foreign countries.

“The challenges (have) to do with our failure to remit contributions to the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) for the good health of the bulk of civil servants.” PSMAS, the chosen medical aid society for most civil servants, has not been able to buy drugs for its clinics which cater for civil servants.

Chinamasa also said the government was facing a challenge in meeting debt repayment commitments made to the country’s creditors, to open doors for new resources to be made available in future.

“Also alarming is the increasing failure to pass on salary deductions under the stop order system to various creditors of civil servants,” he said.

Failure to remit stop orders to civil servants' creditors will expose many banks and credit providers, who have the bulk of civil servants in their debtors’ books.