Judith Phiri [email protected]
FINANCE, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has assured civil servants that the Government will pay their annual bonuses, saying the payments will be met without difficulty.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 2027 National Pre-Budget Seminar in Bulawayo on Saturday, Prof
Ncube said the Government remained committed to honouring its annual bonus payments, which
he said had not been missed during the Second Republic.
“The civil servants bonus payments will be met without difficulty. We are going to pay bonuses to
civil servants as is the case. As you know, in the Second Republic, we never missed the issue of
payment of bonuses for civil servants. We thank them for their hard work. We will be paying
bonuses,” he said.
Prof Ncube said the Government had also extended annual bonus payments to traditional chiefs
from last year, in recognition of their work in their communities.
He described the move as a significant development, saying traditional leaders had not received
such payments since independence in 1980. “We have even started paying bonuses even for our
traditional chiefs, which has never happened since independence since 1980. We also recognise the
good work that they do and we were able to cover them as well. But civil servants bonuses, we are
going to pay those,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prof Ncube said the 2027 National Budget, which is expected to be presented next
month under the theme, “Accelerating Economic Transformation and Building Resilience to
Climate and Global Shocks”, would focus on transforming key sectors of the economy and
strengthening the country’s capacity to withstand external shocks.
He said the budget would support transformation in agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing and
mining, particularly through beneficiation, while also using policy measures to stimulate growth.
“The theme of the budget is to accelerate economic transformation in the various sectors, be it
agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, mining, and that transformation is started through
beneficiation. So the budget is actually insisting in supporting this transformation.
“It does not have to be resource deployment, it could just be policies and pronouncement that then
supports the transformation of that sector. I believe that it is really going to add to that
transformation,” he said.
On climate-related shocks, Prof Ncube said the Government would continue implementing its six-
pillar response strategy, which includes mobilising grain for vulnerable communities, cloud seeding
and insurance support for vulnerable farmers and their families in rural areas.
He said the budget would also support the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme, with resources having
been mobilised towards implementing the various pillars.
On global shocks, including fuel price increases, Prof Ncube said the Government would continue
adjusting taxes, fees and levies to cushion citizens against rising costs.
He said the measures were intended to help absorb the impact of external shocks while protecting consumers.
