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IT has become hackneyed, but until something gives, the following statement bears constant repetition: The culture of entitlement pervading Zimbabwe’s public sector must be excised urgently.In yesterday’s edition we ran a story detailing how some senior Government officials have been giving themselves significant monthly allowances from the Health Transition Fund at the expense of the intended beneficiaries who are the pregnant women and midwives countrywide.

Coming at a time when maternal and infant mortality rates are rising instead of decreasing, this latest expose of public officials taking care of number and damning the public on whose behalf they hold office, is just plain despicable.

For the ministry to apparently take a position that the officials deserve these monthly allowances because they provide “direction, guidance and co-ordination” to the programme shows just how cancerous this entitlement has become.

Surely in a normal set-up this is exactly why these people hold senior posts? Why should they be paid extra for doing their job? If they do not provide the “direction, guidance and co-ordination” to all ministry activities then whose responsibility is it?

Does that mean that all other specific programmes that do not have extra funding do not have the same “direction, guidance and co-ordination”?

And can their “direction, guidance and co-ordination” assure efficient service delivery on the ground if they are taking the money meant to procure the basic elements of that service?

With monthly payments of as much as  US$ 1 300 per individual, just 11 of the more than 100 officials were paid US$36 858 in just one quarter last year.

And at this rate it means that they are determined to directly get almost US$7, 5 million over five years.
That is about 750 000 units of blood that could be procured for underprivileged women who stand to die without access to that blood.

But if you multiply the number by 10 to include all the other sundry directors, managers, pharmacists and executives, the picture becomes horrifying.

It means that in the five-year life span of the fund these officials will chew up about US$75 million which is just slightly less than 20 percent of the whole fund.

And the question that beggars asking is just how much is going towards any other “administrative” costs that are being factored in.
Meanwhile, each beneficiary clinic is getting US$750 a month irrespective of the number of needy patients and the midwives who do the work are only receiving US$59 allowances.

Although it is important for the population to seriously take up the call for planned conception to avoid being at the mercy of external forces for maternal and infant health service delivery, it is pertinent to remember that very few people in the country can afford private health care.

Thus the responsibility of the public sector officials to deliver, not just give “direction, guidance and co-ordination” cannot be overemphasised.

The scenario painted clearly explains why donor aid has been unable to solve some of our problems just like in other developing nations.
For years billions of dollars have been channelled towards programmes to alleviate poverty in our country and others, but there is little to show for it.

It appears that the first priority of any programme is the comfort of the officials who will oversee it rather than addressing the problem for which resources will have been mobilised in the first place.

This behaviour should not be permitted in public officials and we hope to see swift action by the ministry concerned.