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The Civil Servants and Business Union of Zimbabwe (CSBUZ) on Friday announced plans to rally Government workers to contribute to a fund which will be used to invest in various sectors of the economy for their benefit.

The recently established union has three arms namely the Credit Co-operative Society, Association in Finance (Assofin) and a company, Sosolo General Dealers.

Addressing at a rally held in the dormitory town of Chitungwiza to unveil the plans, CSBUZ founder and president Wonder Baudi said the union was targeting to establish branches in all the country’s 10 provinces.

“This is only the first rally here in Chitungwiza but we aim to establish 2 000 branches across Zimbabwe. In Hwange we established eight branches in two weeks and we would like at least five branches in Chitungwiza,” he said.

Mr Baudi said contributions from members would be used to invest in businesses in different sectors of the economy while members would also have access to loans through the union credit bureau.

Under the union’s ambitious programme, Mr Baudi said it was eventually targeting to establish a commercial bank.

“Enough is enough of ill-treatment by the existing banks owned by foreigners as they charge abnormal interest rates and require too much for one to open an account,” he said.

Union vice president Samson Ziso urged civil servants to work together to improve their livelihoods.

“Let us put our heads together to fight poverty and listen to what each one of us wants to do and build our wealth which we will distribute among ourselves,” he said.

“You might not have the knowledge to run and grow a business but we have experts who will do that for you,” he said, adding the Government was supportive of the union initiative. – New Ziana.