Mugabe fetes traditional chiefs ahead of polls

Mugabe fetes traditional chiefs ahead of polls

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By Staff Reporter

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe took a giant step at securing the loyalty of unelected traditional chiefs from across the country after awarding them a shock 100 percent pay rise, just a month after he raised his own pay by 300 percent.

The opposition said the timing of the pay rise was “curious”, pointing to the March 2005 parliamentary elections in which Mugabe will rely on his rural support against the challenge of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

On top of the allowances, the government announced it was planning to spend at least $1,5 billion on luxury vehicles for the 268 hereditary chiefs.

A traditional chief will now earn a non-taxable $1 million while headmen will be paid $400 000, and chiefs’ aides/messengers get $250 000 backdated to January, the state controlled Chronicle newspaper said.

The new allowances were announced by the deputy minister of Local Government Fortune Charumbira during a meeting held in Zimbabwe’s south western town of Gwanda with 23 chiefs from the Matabeleland region.

He also revealed that the Finance ministry and senior civil servants had tried to block the increases.

"President Mugabe has approved the increment and were it not for his Excellency and Minister Ignatius Chombo’s respect and recognition of the role chiefs play as traditional leaders in our community, this recommendation would have been thrown out," Charumbira told the chiefs.

“Some civil servants were not keen to see chiefs given reasonable allowances as they felt it was degrading to earn less than a chief. What they do not realise is that you can not compare a chief to a civil servant. To put the chief in some form of a rank is a futile exercise.”

Only last month we reported that Mugabe had awarded himself a shock 300 percent pay rise.

Mugabe’s salary shot up from $20,2 million to $73,3 million backdated to January this year.

When put together with allowances, Mugabe’s annual salary will put back the Zimbabwean taxpayer a staggering $80 million.

Mugabe now receives a Cabinet allowance of $2,8 million, a 100% increase from the previous $1,4 million. He is also getting a $1,6 million general allowance – a massive improvement from the $840 000 awarded last July.

Although Mugabe lives at State House and the bill is picked up by the taxpayer, he will get a housing allowance of $3,024 million a year, up from $1,5 million and an annual gratuity equivalent to the monthly salary with effect from January.

Zimbabwe has seen a series of strikes for higher pay - the most recent by junior doctors - in the face of surging inflation - currently ranking among the highest rates in the world at 602%.

But struggling companies have failed to increase wages to match rising costs.
Zimbabwe is in the grips of a severe economic crisis, with 80% of the country's 11.6 million people estimated to be living in poverty.

Critics say Mugabe has ruined the economy through 24 years of mismanagement, leading to chronic food and foreign currency shortages. More than 70% of Zimbabwe's workforce is unemployed.

President Mugabe denies responsibility for the country's economic problems - which he blames on domestic opponents and foreign sanctions over allegations of vote rigging in the 2002 elections.
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