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Hebert Zharare Harare Bureau
ALL chief executives of State-linked companies, parastatals and local authorities will earn Cabinet-prescribed salaries and allowances of $6,000 and below this month after receiving the directive from government late last month.
Ministries have since received this directive from Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, advising them on the implementation of the corporate governance and remuneration policy framework for chief executive officers of State enterprises and parastatals and heads of local authorities with immediate effect.
The Cabinet Circular Number 3 of 2014 dated March 20, 2014, was addressed to all Cabinet members and their permanent secretaries, trashing recent media reports that the directive of salary caps was unlikely to be implemented as it was yet to be communicated to the institutions.
A senior government official told our Harare Bureau yesterday that no government minister should plead ignorance that they were not apprised of the Cabinet directive as reported by some sections of the media recently. “As you no doubt are aware, Cabinet at its fifth and seventh meetings held on March 4th and 18th, 2014, approved the above policy framework for the implementation by line ministries.
Each relevant line minister and head of ministry should now take steps to ensure that the State enterprises and parastatals boards under their purview comply with the approved corporate governance aspects of the framework.
“Pertaining to the remuneration policy framework, members will recall that Cabinet approved, inter alia, implementation of an interim remuneration package for State enterprises and parastatals, pending finalisation of work on permanent remuneration structures.
“Members working closely with and through their respective boards should take steps to implement the agreed interim remuneration structure. Any challenges encountered in the implementation thereof, should be promptly conveyed to the Cabinet Office in writing for attention. The Office is now working on permanent remuneration structures, with assistance from some key line ministers and human resources consultants. The chairman of the Cabinet committee on State enterprises and parastatals development shall soon give guidance on the conduct of remuneration audits, which shall be conveyed to line ministries through this office,” said Dr Sibanda.
Government slashed salaries and perks for parastatal and local authorities’ bosses to $6,000 monthly, pending finalisation of a comprehensive salary structure being crafted by the Cabinet Committee on State Enterprises and Parastatals Development.
The total package would be split on a 60-40 basis vis-a-vis salaries and allowances, with everything taxed.
About $1,168,950 will be saved monthly as a result of reduced salaries and perks of 73 out of 90 parastatal heads who were earning over $6,000 monthly. This amount is enough to pay at least 3,000 civil servants.
However, a comprehensive analysis by government revealed that $600 million was pocketed by individuals who sat on boards or were chief executives and senior managers of the country’s 78 parastatals and State enterprises since 2009 and $133 million was lost last year alone.
There has been an outcry from labour lawyers and activists who fear parastatals would lose skilled personnel to companies in the region but government has dismissed this, insisting that Zimbabwe was endowed with talent to replace any parastatal boss or technician who dared to leave.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa has since warned the parastatal bosses against taking the matter to court, adding he was prepared to take them head on.
Online Reporter