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Spectrum with Joram Nyathi
LET’S start with congratulations which are due to MDC-T’s caricature of Donald Trump, one Douglas Mwonzora, who disclosed at a press conference this week that his party was “shameless” in its support for anarchy even as it hopes one day to govern this country.
So he could as well have said “stupidly shameless”. While the real Trump has often embarrassed friend and foe alike during his abrasive presidential campaign speeches, he is fiercely pro-America and its best interests whereas local ape men can never conceive of a Zimbabwe not dominated by and serving foreign interests.
Zimbabwe always comes second, if not third, in their priority, after “the international community” has declared what it wants done.
Now to the substantive issues. Zanu-PF should pick up the mirror and stare at it for some time.
It is important to face the reality; to see beyond the illusion.
To achieve this, it is critical not to over-amplify the “third force” narrative in the unrest which began last Friday, partly caused by bad timing and poor communication over the target and broad objectives of Statutory Instrument 64 on import restrictions.
Like the regime change agenda, a third force is a perennial presence in every post-colonial state which seeks to chart an independent course that asserts one’s worth.
South Africa’s ANC has lately complained of similar foreign influences. Zimbabwe has lived with third force machinations since it began making noise about the land reform in the early 1990s.
Third forces have been involved in the massive externalisation of foreign currency since Zanu-PF’s routing of the MDC-T in the July 2013 elections which sent Britain into mourning. So a third force cannot be the sole plausible alibi for Wednesday’s countrywide lockdown. Hence the need for the mirror.
Zimbabwe has bred one of the most loyal civil service since independence.
These are men and women who have stoically endured taunts and ridicule over low salaries and lost social esteem.
Besides medical aid and a miserly pension at the end, they have very few benefits.
While an enterprising few have used their offices as little boutiques to supplement their meagre pay, a majority have dedicated eight hours’ day to the national service.
Needless to say morale must be very low, and they tend to vent their anger on the poor fellow who visits their offices in need of a service.
People selling their wares in the informal sector, whom we love to deride so much, can land a windfall any minute, any day.
The loyal civil servant can only wait for the end of the month pay, which hardly brings any comfort.
The civil servant leads a hand to mouth existence. He has no belt to tighten. Even a pay received on time can barely meet the month’s basics.
That is why this week’s stayaway was a success, much to the envy of the opposition and civic society whose own instigations for civil unrest have generally failed.
And Zanu-PF must be relieved and take stock.
Government has of late failed to pay its employees on time. That started with delayed bonuses. Pay dates have become a moving target. Yet the civil servants must meet their fixed costs, the barest such as rentals, meals and transport to work. Such expenses cannot be deferred.
That’s something Government must appreciate. Civil servants don’t require a third force to press this point home.
That is why the stayaway was such a success, outside the political ambitions of the private media.
Nourishing corruption
Most Government workers are acutely aware of the effects of sanctions imposed on the country over the land reform. They are committed to the sacrifices the new, emerging economy demands of them. They are aware of the massive externalisation of foreign currency by forces of regime change.
But looking around, and looking at the mirror, it is evident that the sacrifices for a new economy are not borne uniformly by all. For the greater part of two years, local media have been awash with stories of corruption involving staggering sums of money. Investment in such investigations has gone to waste.
Civil servants read those stories. Government’s own top auditor, Mildred Chiri, has courageously exposed waste and lack of accountability in line ministries.
Her courage has not been rewarded. It must be one of the most frustrating experiences in a job. And civil servants read those reports, at times know the culprits. Nothing is done.
We have nursed and nourished a culture of corruption which rewards crime and punishes the victim. These are the plain and simple reasons for the success of this week’s stayaway, and the course taken by the Government employees would be the only option open to a man caught between a boulder and the deep sea.
It is to insult an already exasperated man in such a situation to insinuate that his actions are impelled by a third force, unless by third force it’s meant the stomach.
The doctors, nurses, teachers and other categories of civil servants are not demanding the luxuries they see all around them.
Here is an example: the Daily News of June 22 reports on a letter dated June 8 sent to heads of Government department regarding allowances.
Only two, mobile phone (airtime?) and fuel allocations, are cited. In the letter, secretary to Treasury Willard Manungo, announced that mobile phone allocations had been reduced to $150 per month for accounting officers. Fuel was revised down to 500 litres per month.
There are many others below them who get varying allowances. Then there are the many vehicles assigned or allocated to individuals according to grade in each ministry.
The solution to the problem of bad roads is not big cars but good roads. The poor civil servant riding a bicycle wants a good road. A big 4X4 vehicle is beyond his dreams. Government needs to look at the mirror.
We fully appreciate the principle of separation of powers between Parliament and the Executive. But if we have a Parliament which every year passes a budget which makes grotesque allowances for certain grades of civil servants while leaving the majority without a basic monthly pay, then such an institution is not serving its constitutional mandate.
That is why we have MPs who squander parliamentary time demanding diplomatic passports instead of scrutinising budgetary allocations to see where Government can cut costs and pay civil servants’ salaries.
Celebrating death
It is bad enough not to pay civil servants their monthly salaries. It is insulting to impute political mischief to their collective job action, negative though that might be.
The truth though is that there were instigations for Government workers to strike and celebrations that they had in fact stayed away from work on Wednesday. But the motivations were tangential.
While for Government workers it was a matter of survival, for Zimbabwe’s opposition politicians who subscribe to the “crash and burn” doctrine, it was to spite Zanu-PF and its Government.
It was time to celebrate the implosion of the economy. (Some clever fellow quickly calculated the cost of the one day stayaway at $52 million.)
It was time to celebrate civil servants turning against their employer, as it were.
They (the Trumpites) couldn’t be blamed for fomenting anarchy in the civil service without a suggestion that civil servants were now under the control and influence of the opposition.
So the joy was uninhibited. They were shameless about it.
Miraculously, overnight Zimbabwe became a constitutional democracy where everyone had a right to demonstrate. That is why Zanu-PF should be relieved that the stayaway was an expression of existential desperation rather than a political statement.
Civil servants’ grievances are very genuine and basic. Opposition parties are only being opportunistic.
Online Reporter