PSC terminates 4 000 workers’ salaries

Herald Reporter
The Public Service Commission has terminated the salaries of more than 4 000 employees after they failed to submit various requisite documents, an official has said.
Secretary to the PSC, Mrs Pretty Sunguro, said this was aimed at ensuring efficiency and compliance to regulations by all civil servants.
Mrs Sunguro said this yesterday while giving oral evidence before the House of Assembly Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, which is chaired by Mazowe South legislator Cde Margaret Zinyemba (Zanu-PF).
Each ministry will be asked monthly to confirm who is in its employ before a salary is processed, the committee heard. She said the PSC had tightened controls to ensure that all those who receive salaries are indeed entitled to Government money.
This, she said, meant that all heads of ministries should confirm every month the names of staff members before a salary is paid.
“We have ceased salaries for about 4 000 because they failed to show that they are indeed employed by PSC and are supposed to be employed with us.
“We now have a system where a payroll is produced and sent to every head of ministry who should confirm that everyone with the name appear-ing indeed is still employed by that ministry,” she said.
Mkoba legislator Mr Amos Chibaya (MDC-T) had asked her to explain the situation concerning “ghost workers”.
PSC paymaster, Mr Brighton Chiuzingo, said the system allows them to recall the salary should it be discovered that a person is no longer employed by Government.
“Starting from February, I balance my wage bill and ask heads of ministries to verify whether they are agreeable or whether the people on the payroll are bona fide civil servants from their ministry.
“If confirmed, we then transmit the money to the banks and we have an arrangement with banks where they can return the money if it is done before payday,” said Mr Chiuzingo.
In her evidence, Mrs Sunguro said they were under-funded and this affected their service delivery.
She said the PSC needed more computers for record-keeping.
“A person might die today and by the time the death certificate reaches us that person will have received a salary, so with computers it would be better,” she said.
She said the PSC had lost disciplinary cases at the Labour Court becau-se they could not make meaningful investigations due to the shortage of resources.
“We have cases of improper association by teachers with pupils. We need resources to go to speak to the pupils concerned and establish what would have happened,” she said.
On whether or not Government had frozen recruitment, Mrs Sunguro said Treasury had directed the PSC to hire critical staff only.