By Admore Marambanyika

The newly appointed Public Service Commissioner Larry Mavima has said government is in the process of reviewing working conditions for its employees to curb brain drain.

Mavima who is the former Provincial Affairs and Devolution minister for the Midlands province.

made the remarks at State House where he was sworn by President Emmerson Mnangagwa as PSC commissioner.

Addressing the media, Mavima said the public service does not want to train and educate people who would later leave the country in search of greener pastures.

“We don’t want to train and educate people who will then go and leave the country, the commission is seized with the matter, employees who are not happy will not deliver, they will pretend to work but they will not be happy. We need to realise and understand the needs of the people and conditions of service. It is something that we are constantly looking at. We are currently reviewing conditions of service for various grades,” said Mavima.

He said he was going to leverage on his experience in both the private and public sector to deliver his mandate.

“The public sector is the largest employer in the country. We need to make sure that our people are well trained and we need to utilise the resources which we have at our disposal. People need to have the attitude to work and get results,” he said.

Mavima assumes duty at a time civil servants are aggrieved with their working conditions highlighted by low salaries. Civil servants have been engaged in endless battles over salary and working conditions issues, with workers demanding a pre-October 2018 US$540 minimum salary. They are also not happy with government splitting payment of their annual bonus into two batches, saying the arrangement was meaningless considering their meagre salaries.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure said there was no relief for educators given the split payment of their bonus which is far below what they used to earn in 2017.

“Before the coup of 2017, teachers were to get bonuses of not less than US$520. It was 100% with the gross income. But now the 100% of the gross income today is way below what teachers used to earn before the coup. You cannot be able to keep the US$150 this month waiting for the other US-dollar payment next month. There isn’t much relief that is going to be enjoyed from this particular bonus. It’s very unfortunate that the incapacitation crisis remains unresolved and teachers’ morale will remain very low,” he said.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo echoed similar sentiments.

“Nurses got their bonuses in US dollars. However, the money is not enough. We also urge the government to give us full bonuses. We can’t plan with this meagre salary,” Dongo said.

However, Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions chairperson Cecilia Alexander, held a different view saying civil servants were happy.

“They are happy because this year there has been some improvement. Firstly, all the workers have been treated the same unlike before where some sectors would be paid earlier while others received the 13th cheque late. Secondly, the larger chunk of the bonus is in US dollars so at least it's better as the majority of their income is not affected by inflation. Government has been very responsible this year and we commend it for the efforts,” she said.