LOCAL Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere yesterday challenged Harare City Council officials to cut down on their hefty salaries to reduce the local authority’s ballooning wage bill instead of targeting low-income earners in its proposed retrenchment exercise.
BY STAFF REPORTER
Officially opening a housing project by Homelink in Tynwald, Harare, Kasukuwere said council was wrong in trying to fire 3 000 employees on three months’ notice without addressing the issue of managers’ mega salaries.
“I am now targeting those at the top. You are not doing your job. We have guys in the City of Harare earning as much as $20 000. Why do you go for over 50 people who are earning $200? Bosses are spending money while land barons have taken over the city,” he said.
“Who must go first, the workers or the bosses? So bosses shape up or ship out. I want the City of Harare to start to work now.” Kasukuwere, however, said unproductive workers should be laid off.
The capital city is battling to contain land barons who have encroached on council and State land, which they fraudulently sell to desperate home-seekers.
Kasukuwere recently suspended all 18 MDC-T councillors in Gweru, accusing them of incompetence and corruption.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
The MDC-T-dominated local authorities have, however, said this is part of a Zanu PF grand plan to appoint its own people as commissioners to run council affairs.
In a separate interview, director of the Combined Harare Residents’ Association (CHRA), Simbarashe Moyo, said if council was serious about cutting its wage bill, it should target top executives.
“Shaving off one’s hair does not contribute significantly to one’s efforts to lose weight. The city fathers have a task of pruning the hefty salaries of the top guys,” Moyo said.
Moyo also pointed out that the results of a human resources audit that was carried out three years ago should be made public.
“That audit should be the first port of call for the council. We are keen to know about the ghost workers that it allegedly unravelled,” he said.
