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Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
Government owes at least $40 million in operational costs, salaries and school fees arrears to its 46 diplomatic missions and consulates in various countries, with Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Ambassador Joey Bimha saying failure to adequately fund embassies tarnished the image of the country.

Appearing before the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday, Ambassador Bimha said poor funding of diplomatic missions had seen some ambassadors using public transport in countries they were posted to as their vehicles constantly broke down due to old age.

“The operations arrears at our missions for 2014 amount to $32 644 000. As you are aware, the major cost drivers, besides salaries at diplomatic missions, are contractual obligations and unavoidable critical expenses such as rentals, utilities and maintenance of vehicles, equipment and buildings. However, Treasury has not provided (money) to cater for these critical expenditure items for the past 20 months from May 2013 to December 2014,” Ambassador Bimha said.

He added that salary arrears stood at $6 669 900 as at December 31, 2014 while staff had not been paid the equivalent of eight months’ salaries.

“We are supposed to get about $4,1 million every month to cater for salaries and operations, but for the last 12 months, we have been receiving about $2,7 million every month and we have had to divide that $2,7 million between salaries and operations so we have started to accrue arrears.

“Many of our missions are in salary arrears of up to eight months now,” he said.

Ambassador Bimha said the ministry had not received funds under the Public Sector Investment Programme and could therefore not buy new cars or renovate buildings owned by the Government abroad.

“We have not been receiving money for the PSIP and buildings have gone into a serious state of disrepair because we don’t have money to maintain them. As we speak, the PSIP vote is zero and in certain cases we have had to move our ambassadors out of these buildings as they are no longer habitable.

“Our embassies are the face of Zimbabwe in the international community. People are going to judge us by the way we look. If they (buildings) are in a state of disrepair we are going to be judged negatively,” he said.

He said a car he once used as ambassador to France that was bought in 1996 was still being used. He added that it suffered frequent breakdowns.

The committee’s chairperson, Ambassador Amos Midzi, bemoaned the state of affairs at the embassies saying this posed a serious threat to national security. He commended diplomatic staff for persevering under difficult conditions.

“It is a major challenge to our national security and a threat to our national interests.

Our diplomats have gone through these challenges but have acquitted themselves well and have remained loyal,” he said.

Ambassador Bimha said while reducing the country’s diplomatic missions was an option, it was important that Government cleared arrears first before any such move was taken.