Is retrenchment the best move Minister Chinamasa?

21 Dec, 2014 - 00:12 0 Views
Is retrenchment the best move Minister Chinamasa?

The Sunday News

Economic Focus Patience F Madambi
THE recent announcement by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa that retrenchment in the civil service is the only solution to harnessing the ever ballooning wage bill may seem level headed and practical but, it is in fact a scary thing that will worsen an already struggling social environment.

On the whole, civil servants are the worst service providers with almost no public relations ethics we can be proud of.

They treat clients badly, take tea and lunch breaks at inappropriate times and speak to our grandparents rudely when assistance is sought.

So it is not because they deserve our empathy but because Zimbabwe’s economy is suffering from acute unemployment levels which if left unresolved will surely hit the fan.

Minister Chinamasa’s warning of the pending exercise conjures terrible images of further unemployment and poverty and children roaming the streets because their parents will no longer afford to send them to school.

The issue of child marriages and drug taking and criminal activities as well as other social vices will surely be exacerbated.

Even more haunting is the picture of certificate, degree and diploma clutching wide eyed youngsters looking for employment opportunities.

So at the end of the day it will be more than pleasing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or trying to protect ourselves from feeling embarrassed about reporting that Zimbabwe employs in excess of 500 000 civil servants and not the earlier figure of 340 000.

And it will do Government well to first conduct an audit to ascertain the ACTUAL number of workers/servants that are real before real live able bodied individuals are served with dismissal letters.

The next step would be to identify corrupt activities and those involved and do a clean up to tighten up operations and hopefully start to run efficiently.

The irony of it all is that civil servants earn below the poverty datum line and are forced to engage in interesting activities outside their work stations to be able to sustain themselves and their immediate and extended families.

And where will government get the money to pay retrenchment packages to the purported excess 250 000 workers who might be targeted for the chop?

And I would suggest that while Minister Chinamasa is raising funds for the retrenchment packages may he also set aside a fundraiser for the ministry responsible for welfare to cater for the soon to be needy citizens.

It will never be in the best interest of the Government nor the country to retrench but to instead work towards making operations efficient while supporting private enterprises to operate in a more conducive environment towards building a viable economy.

This way can we realise an even greater number being employed while creating sustainable opportunities for everyone else around them.

So Dear Minister Chinamasa can we brainstorm a little more before we sit down to draft those offer of retrenchment letters to the already overwhelmed civil servant?

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