Zim Civil Servants Refuse Meeting With Government

Zimbabwean civil service unions have declined a meeting with Public Service Minister, Prisca Mupfumira, over the delay in the payment of the military and police force’s June salaries.

Earlier this week the Zimbabwean government announced that they will not be able to pay salaries for both the military or the police force, along with other civil servant jobs this month.

They said that they will only be able to pay the military salaries by June 27th and the police force’s salaries by June 30th. Usually, the military gets paid in the middle of the month.

They also said that other workers that are on the state’s payroll will only receive their salaries next month.

The meeting was called to discuss the new pay dates, but the civil services unions boycotted the meeting because they feel that the government was making these ‘unilateral’ decisions without consulting them.

The Apex Council – which serves as the civil servants’ umbrella body – were the ones who rejected the meeting, saying that the government didn’t properly invite them or set a proper agenda.

“…As the Apex Council, we feel that we’re an important stakeholder and we need to be respected by the government. There’s information we’re reading in the media that civil servants pay dates have been changed. We realise that the government has already made a unilateral decision and the reason for the meeting is so we just rubber stamp the decision. We refuse to accept this,” Cecilia Alexander, president of the Apex Council said.

With the tensions surrounding the lack of payment, reports are suggesting that it could trigger a significant unrest in the country.