Zimpapers Logo

Herald Reporter
Secretary for Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Mr Ringson Chitsiko has come under fire from a cross-section of people for professing ignorance about salary structures and perks of senior management at the Grain Marketing Board.
People converged in their condemnation of Mr Chitsiko, wondering if he had been entirely honest in his remarks to a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee in Tuesday.

Permanent secretaries, being accounting officers of ministries, recently submitted salary structures of senior management of parastatals under them to the Office of President and Cabinet.

The Office of the President and Cabinet has since compiled a comprehensive and detailed preliminary report on the remuneration levels of chief executives of all parastatals, local authorities and State enterprises, and the document now awaits review and scrutiny by a committee chaired by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa.

After the review, the report is expected to be presented to Cabinet next week for a Government decision on immediate and long-term measures and processes to redress the “Salarygate” scandal.

However, Mr Chitsiko surprised the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development – chaired by Mbire MP Cde David Butau (Zanu-PF) – when he said he was unaware of salary scales of senior management at GMB.

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary-general Mr Japhet Moyo said there was need to strengthen Parliament to compel public officials to divulge all requested information.

“That is the problem when people go to Parliament knowing that nothing will happen to them. How can a permanent secretary fail to know such information?” asked Mr Moyo.

Former Zimbabwe Union of Democrats president Mrs Margaret Dongo said Mr Chitsiko should resign.
“It is unfortunate that in Africa we do not have a culture of resigning when a high-ranking official makes such gaffes. How can a permanent secretary say he does not know what is happening in an organisation that he is supervising?”

Readers of The Herald Online were equally inflamed.
“This guy should have been censured by the portfolio committee for being unco-operative or alternatively being ignorant of the goings-on in his ministry.,” said one reader.

Mary Tagwirei of Mabvuku attributed the salarygate scandal to such ‘‘lackadaiscal attitudes’’ by ministry officials.
Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Mr George Charamba is on record as accusing some Government officials of sleeping on the job.