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| author/source:Financial Gazette (Zimb) |
| published:Thu 30-Apr-2009 |
| posted on this site:Fri 1-May-2009 |
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| Article Type : News |
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| Not clear who had opened or withdrawn the US$100 allowances |
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An ongoing government audit has uncovered a massive scam in which millions of dollars in foreign currency were siphoned from the fiscus through multiple payments to civil servants and ghost workers. The discovery of the multiple payments has jolted the authorities into action in a desperate bid to plug the leaks bleeding the hard currency-starved inclusive government. The Financial Gazette can exclusively reveal that payments to hundreds of State employees have since been frozen while contracts for scores of civil servants were terminated last week as the investigations into the scam intensified. Highly-placed sources said the countrywide audit, being led by the Public Service Commission (PSC)’s Inspector General, Clifford Matorera, started a fortnight ago. But it has so far unearthed multiple salary payments that, in some cases, resulted in certain individuals being paid five times per month through different banks.
Among those who had their salaries frozen are soldiers, nurses and other civil servants working in ministries such as Justice and Legal Affairs, Foreign Affairs and the Youth Ministry. Some of the affected civil servants told The Financial Gazette this week that they were struck off the payroll without notice only to realise later that their names were appearing on the list of government employees receiving payments more than once. It was not clear who had opened or withdrawn the US$100 allowances deposited into their accounts. Mariyawanda Nzuwa, the PSC chairman and Matorera could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print yesterday. But in an interview yesterday, the Minister of Public Service, Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, said he had been informed about the PSC audit, but had no further information because the Commission was an independent constitutional body that could only be subjected to directives from the President.
The Minister, however, said his Ministry would carry out its own audit, which would be “much, much more comprehensive”. “I was informed about that particular audit, but we are going to institute our own audit to eliminate possible irregularities that might be in existence. We expect the audit to be on the ground in 30 days. There are a lot of allegations, but as I have said, allegations cannot be regarded as official until there is an investigation,” said Mukonoweshuro. The revelation of ghost workers and payments is likely to deal a hammer blow to government’s efforts to engage Western countries and international donors to foot its salary bill under a programme called “humanitarian aid plus” aimed at averting the collapse of essential services amid strike threats by teachers and health workers, among other civil servants, demanding better pay. At the moment, government can only afford to pay each civil servant US$100, paid as an allowance, regardless of one’s rank. Government has approached donors with an urgent appeal for US$2 billion needed to meet critical payments, including civil service salaries. The response from donors has been poor.
Currently, the Finance Ministry is only collecting about US$30 million per month from taxes, which is only sufficient to pay the allowances. A member of the PSC audit team, who spoke on condition of anonymity, yesterday said: “The audit is an eye opener. So far, we have discovered that some people appear twice, thrice and even five times on the payroll.” He added that the audit is yet to be completed. The PSC audit comes a month after Movement for Democratic Change legislators raised questions in Parliament on the alleged continued payments of US$100 allowances by the State to Zanu PF youths and other functionaries that had allegedly been employed to campaign for the party during last year’s elections. During a Parliamentary question-and-answer session, the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere, denied that youths had been employed by the government for election purposes. Kasukuwere said his Ministry employed “youth co-ordinating officers throughout the country” to co-ordinate projects that empower the youth. Kasukuwere said the Youth Ministry was currently undertaking a human resources audit to ascertain the number of those employed.
Last week, hordes of civil servants who were employed in various ministries and government departments on the back of having attended the National Youth Training Centres besieged the Youth Ministry after realising that they were among those whose salaries were frozen and jobs terminated. The former national youth service training graduates were given letters, copies of which are in possession of The Financial Gazette, pleading with the government’s Salary Service Bureau (SSB) to “reinstate their appointments”. The letters headed: “Erroneous appointment and re-instatement” say the concerned individuals were mistakenly appointed as “youth officers” when, in actual fact, they are civil servants. Part of a letter from the Youth Ministry to SSB concerning the affected civil servants reads: “Please be advised that (name supplied) was erroneously appointed as a youth officer. Accordingly, he never assumed duty as a youth officer nor did he receive any remuneration from the Ministry of Youth. All salaries and allowances given to him during that period are with the Ministry. In view of this, you are being requested to re-instate his appointment.”
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