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focus on paying civil servants meaningful salaries, senior Government officials have said.
Minister Biti on Tuesday told Parliament he had ordered a probe into how the Mines and Mining Development Ministry had been conducting sales of diamonds from Marange.
He said he had told the Comptroller and Auditor-General to investigate the matter.
However, a senior official from that office – speaking on condition of anonymity – yesterday said they were an independent constitutional structure and did not take their terms of reference from a minister.
“We are not instructed on what to do by any minister, and just like Zimra and other statutory bodies, we institute investigations as per our own constitutional mandate,” he said.
Minister Biti has implied the Mines Ministry, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe are not being clear on where money from diamond sales is.
The entities have said Government has so far this year benefited from a US$174,2 million diamond dividend, while Minister Biti says his office is only aware of US$62,1 million
The funds have become contentious since President Mugabe said the diamond dividend should be used to improve State employees’ working conditions.
Yesterday, another Government official said the general feeling within the State bureaucracy was that Minister Biti was stalling by trying to create the impression that the money for an increment was not there.
The official also said by trying to institute an investigation into another ministry, Minister Biti was over-stepping his bounds.
“Minister Biti knows very well that the diamond money is there but for what appear to be political reasons he wants to stall.
“With an election looming, it is conceivable that he wants his party (MDC-T) to benefit from Government workers’ anger over poor working conditions.
“Further to that, he also knows very well that he cannot investigate another ministry. He can only do that if he really thinks he is a super minister.”
Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukono-weshuro – also from MDC-T – last year indirectly accused Minister Biti of acting like a “super minister” when they clashed over State workers’ salaries.
Minister Biti was also accused of over-rea-ching when he tried to push through a Finance Bill last year that tried to appropriate President Mugabe’s constitutional authority as Head of State and Government and re-assigning some such powers to his brief.
“Why does he suddenly want to enlarge his limited powers when it comes to Chiadzwa and then turns around and begs the State to be easy on Zimplats?
“Why has he not tried to ‘order’ an investigation into Zimplats? Right now there is money stuck in transmission because of sanctions and he is not worried about this at all.”
Observers this week said Minister Biti was attempting to side-step the civil servants’ salaries issue by raising dust about diamond money.
They said his insistence that the Mines Ministry reveals how diamonds are sold would frustrate sanctions busting efforts as the West would immediately block money accruing from the sales.
This would have the effect of ensuring civil servants do not get a pay rise.
The Apex Council – a body representing State workers’ unions – has already expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which Ministers Biti and Mukonoweshuro have handled their pleas for better working conditions.
They have since said they are pinning their hopes on Minister Biti implementing President Mugabe’s pronouncement that they directly benefit from diamond sales.
It is understood that their leaders met Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, in Harare on Monday and were reassured that President Mugabe backed them.
Teachers’ representatives are understood to have met Vice President Joice Mujuru last month and apprised her on the challenges they were facing.
A senior official with one of the unions yesterday said Apex had chosen a diplomatic route rather than be confrontational with the Government.
Online Reporter