3,000 youth officers cut loose as same number of teachers recruited

HARARE – The government is laying off 3,000 workers from the youth ministry, as it tries to make good on its promise to cut the bloated civil service and sort out the country’s finances.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said this was “in line with a plan announced in November’s budget to contain costs.”

But the net gain from the retrenchments was immediately put into question, after the government announced last week that it was recruiting 3,000 new teachers to plug a shortfall which is as high as 20,000, according to unions.

Public sector salaries account for more than 90 percent of Zimbabwe’s $4 billion national budget — a situation seen as unsustainable by foreign lenders like the International Monetary Fund, with which Zimbabwe would eventually like to secure an economic reform programme.

In a statement, the Public Service Commission said it had cut 3,365 youth officers from the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation on January 4.

“The Youth officers will be paid their cash in lieu of accrued days leave and cash in lieu of notice,” it said.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is under pressure to repair an economy shattered during nearly four decades his Zanu PF party’s rule. His administration is grappling with a crippling dollar shortage and growing budget deficit, as well as tarnished investor confidence.

In October, Zimbabwe’s cabinet approved an economic recovery programme taking aim at the wage bill.

Cutting unnecessary spending will be key to helping the country clear more than $2 billion in arrears to creditors — a precondition to IMF support.

But just as Ncube plans to cut the government workforce, he is under pressure from unions particularly in education and the health services to unfreeze posts.

“We have been allowed to recruit 3,000 teachers at the moment due to our small purse but we do need more because we have huge gaps in the system,” Tumisang Thabela, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, said on December 28.

The new teachers were registered between January 2 and 3.