MDC Deputy Treasurer-General Chalton Hwende has revealed that government ministers are paid in hard US$1500 per day when they embark on foreign trips making a mockery of the 5% cut on top civil servants salaries that Ncube announced in his 2019 budget statement.
“Austerity for Prosperity my foot. Government Ministers pocket US$1500 per day in hard currency every time they travel out of the country,” Hwende said.
“They come back and change this money on the black market. How many trips has Mthuli Ncube conducted since his appointment?”
President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his cabinet have since the time of the military intervention been engaging in numerous foreign trips and signed mega deals that have not materialised up to now.
“Governement Ministers get in excess of USD$7000 for a 4 day overseas trip. The Minister of Finance Mthuli Ncube has made numerous foreign trips earning hundreds of thousands in foreign currency. Yet he pays equivalent of $125 USD to majority of civil servants and make a fake 5% salary cut to the Ministers.” Hwende further said.
In a cocktail of austerity measures meant to preserve thinning foreign currency – Mnagwagwa’s administration announced early this year that they were opting for a Presidential smaller plane to save money – but in April when he travelled to China on a State visit, he used an A/C type B767 -200, registration number P4 CLA, a luxurious plane from Bahrain, owned by Switzerland-based Comlux Aviation.
Civic society and opposition members have been accusing Mnangagwa of failing to walk the talk by indicating left and turning right.
Yesterday, MDC Mutare Central MP Innocent Gonese also condemned Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s austerity measures targeting the executive as piecemeal and of little significance and a deception.
Gonese said that it was ironic that Ncube was preaching the gospel of austerity while cabinet ministers were driving state of the art vehicles.
Said Gonese: “The 5% salary cut of the Executive is a deception, because at their level, most of their remuneration is allowances and perks from gallivanting around the world for mega deals they always claim.
“My proposal is that the minister must announce the austerity measures because you cannot hire a $2 million private Swiss jet for President Emmerson Mnangagwa. At least former President Robert Mugabe used Air Zimbabwe.”
— ZOOMZimbabwe