CHIEFS are set to get bonuses two months after they received twin-cab vehicles at a time when government is cutting spending due to a tight fiscal space.
Chief’s messengers will also receive bonuses, Public Service Commission chairperson, Vincent Hungwe, confirmed to NewsDay.
“They (traditional leaders) are part of the list [of people] who are going to receive the bonuses,” he said.
“If you want the whole of those receiving bonuses, you should get in touch with the PSC secretary.”
Apex Council secretary-general David Dzatsunga said paying the chiefs bonuses when they were not part of the civil service raised eyebrows.
“We are grateful to government for paying the civil servants their bonuses. However, I do not have authority to comment on traditional leaders because they are not part of us,” he said.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president, Obert Masaraure, saidgovernment wanted to buy the loyalty of chiefs.
“The idea of pampering traditional leaders and their messengers with luxuries but denying them the right to govern is ironical,”Masaraure said.
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“It is clear that traditional leaders are only needed as accessories for power retention.
“We condemn the abuse of limited financial resources being channelled towards preservation of hegemony of power for the ruling elite.
“Our limited resources should be invested in productive areas of the economy including paying those who are genuinely contributing to make Zimbabwe work.”
In September President Emmerson Mnangagwa doled out cars worth millions of United States dollars to traditional leaders when government was failing to raise funds to feed hungry masses affected by the El Nino-induced drought.
A brand new 4x4 Isuzu twin-cab vehicle goes for around US$70 000 on the local market, pushing the figure for all the vehicles to above US$17 million for 237 traditional leaders in the country.
Treasury has since directed ministries to cut spending for the rest of 2024 as it focuses on wages and social service expenditures.
Treasury also cut travel-related costs amid a tight fiscal space attributed to the sharp depreciation of the local currency.
The Zimbabwe Gold currency has depreciated sharply, losing 46% of its value since it was introduced in April to replace the battered Zimdollar.
Chiefs and traditional leaders have been accused of intimidating their subjects to support the ruling Zanu PF party during elections, in violation of their constitutional roles.
In a policy brief titled, Rights and Traditions: Traditional Leadership, Politics and Human Rights In Zimbabwe, released in June last year, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association said traditional leaders were “willing enablers” of the ruling party.
