By Obert Gutu
PRESS STATEMENT – Government has announced that it is starting an exercise to downsize its bloated civil service. The civil service was ostensibly bloated by the so-called Zanu PF ward officers, a euphemism for Border Gezi youths who are paid for unleashing reign of terror in the community.
The MDC has been vindicated as we were on record demanding an audit of the civil service for the duration of the inclusive government. Now chickens have come home to roost. The clueless government is now insolvent.
The economy is grinding to a halt as companies are closing down. The revenue base has shrunk by 45 percent since July 2013. Government deficit is now approaching 1 billion United States dollars since the rigged elections.
The whole economy is in shambles yet Mugabe and his cabal are burying their heads in the sand, malingering that everything is normal. Mugabe’ s foreign travels are taking their toll on the fiscus so far gobbling close to 15 million dollars since January. This is on top of expenses incurred during his retreat to the Far East for the festive season. We say no to civil service retrenchments without negotiated packages.
In this Zanu PF induced economic crisis civil servants cannot bear the brunt of misrule alone. Downsizing must start with the freezing of open cabinet posts and reducing Mugabe’s travel. Zimbabweans are now bracing for the final implosion. The centre can no longer hold. Government can no longer pay salaries. The econony is clearly on auto pilot. The results of a rigged election are bare for all of us to see.
The MDC is ready to govern and pull the economy out of the morass. We know how to unlock domestic and foreign investment. We have a plan to create a milion jobs annually. Zanu PF is now playing sunset politics. Everyday the people selling their goods on the pavement are sending clear signals that things cannot continue as they are.
Everyone is itching for a final push which is not gonna be very far. The regime will be overrun by the people. We are now in a count down to the peoples victory. We are now bracing for a snap election which we will resist until there are genuine electoral reforms.
The regime has been isolated and marooned on an enclave of a collapsing economy. Civil servants will not be the sacrificial lambs. We have started a big campaign: No retrenchment without packages; No elections without reforms.
Obert Gutu is the national spokesman of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
