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Speaking at the weekend at a luncheon hosted in his honour by Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Mr Andrew Mtetwa and his wife, the President bemoaned State workers’ poor conditions of service.

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Government trade unionists recently said they would approach President Mugabe for assistance after failing to secure meaningful salary increments from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Finance Minister Tendai Biti and Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro.
Civil servants are taking home around US$200, far short of the poverty datum line pegged at US$500. On Saturday, the Head of State and Government and Commander-in- Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces said civil servants’ welfare left a lot to be desired.

“The Minister of Mines (and Mining Development Obert Mpofu) was telling me four days ago (that there had been a third sale of dia¬ monds), and they are going to give quite — I think its Mbada — a large sum to Treasury.

“It’s going to assist also in raising salary levels of the people and even my salary level.

“Ndikakuburitsirai chitupa changu (pay slip) you won’t believe it. It was US$1 750,36 but of course tine mindaka, tinorima, tine nguruve, tine huku dzatinochengeta so it helps the families.”

The President said with monthly salaries ranging between US$150 and US$250, and with no other source of income, civil servants were indeed eking a frugal existence and something had to be done to improve their welfare.

About 100 people, among them embassy staff and Zimbabweans resident here, were at the luncheon. President Mugabe drew laughter when he revealed that some civil ser vants were earning salaries below wages earned by some farm workers, citing his own farm hands in Zvimba whom he said got upwards of US$350. Civil servants recently gave the Government an ultimatum to raise salaries or face a strike.

The West’s ruinous economic sanctions have hit Government hard in the pocket by shrinking the revenue base, a development that has constrained the State’s capacity to pay public service workers reasonable salaries. The President scoffed at Western and Zimbabwean private media reports that the political leadership has been lining their pockets with proceeds from the Chiadzwa diamond fields.

‘‘Vamwe vari kufunga kuti Chiadzwa, zvirikunzi vanaMugabe are lining their pockets.

“Ini handisati ndamboona kana diamond rimwe chete rekuChiadzwa, kana, handisati ndamboriona diamond. To tell you the truth I haven’t seen a single diamond. I haven’t even been to Chiadzwa even. I would want to visit when I find time but we are monitoring Chiadzwa very strictly,” he said.

The President revealed that three other companies, in addition to the two already on the ground, would be licensed to mine dia¬monds in Chiadzwa and Government would evaluate their performance.