Top govt employee blows up $6,000 a day on phone — Report

By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |

The Civil Service Commission boss, Mariyawanda Nzuwah, blew up some $200,000 in voice calls and cellular data in just one month during a recent foreign trip, according to a new report.

The figure translates to some $6,000 a day during the time Nzuwah reportedly visited Zimbabwean embassies in Europe.

The news comes at a time government is struggling to pay civil servants on time due to poor revenue and as calls for minimal public service expenditure grow.

The government-controlled media at the weekend said it had records of the cellular phone expenses that Nzuwah accrued, but the CSC boss refused to comment saying the mobile account belonged to government.

“I don’t want to comment because that is a government account and I am not an accounting officer,” said Nzuwah.

On average, Zimbabweans spend $500 million on prepaid cellular phone airtime annually, a figure that translates to $38 per person per year, according to the Zimbabwe Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT). Nehanda Radio