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Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
The City of Masvingo will start paying its employees their 2017 annual bonuses this month, an official has said.

In an interview last week, the city’s mayor Councillor Hubert Fidze said council had resolved to award its workers bonuses for improvement of service delivery despite the prevailing liquidity crunch. “We are going to live up to the workers’ expectations on bonuses,” he said. “We have resolved as a full council that employees should receive their 2017 annual bonuses.”

Cllr Fidze said while council, like any other local authority in the country, was struggling to meet all its financial obligations, it was incumbent for employees to be given what was due to them.

“Despite our cash flows being not up to scratch, we should give employees their bonuses,” he said.

“However, as we have been doing all the years, we are going to stagger them starting from the end of January up to August, depending on employee’s grade.”

Clr Fidze said council was still owing its employees one month’s salary, but efforts were being made to pay them, adding that as the economic situation improved and debtors paid up their outstanding utility bills, the situation was expected to change for the better.

He said council was owed more than $42,5 million in outstanding water bills by its clients, with institutional debtors, mostly Government departments, owing the local authority more than $22 million, while the remaining figure was owed by residents.

Finance and Economic Planning Minister Mr Patrick Chinamasa expressed Government’s commitment to settling utility debts in his 2018 national budget statement.

According to recent full council meeting minutes, city treasurer Mrs Thandiwe Dube recommended that the staff bonuses be staggered due to cash-flow challenges.

“Those in grades 1 and 2 will get their bonuses this month, grades 3 to 4 in February, grade 5 in March, grades 6, 7 and 8 will be paid in April, while grades 9, 10 and 11 will receive their bonuses in May,” read part of the minutes. “Grades 13 and 14 and managerial staff will get their bonuses in July and August, respectively.”