BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA
BIKITA East legislator Johnson Madhuku (Zanu PF) has urged government to provide non-monetary benefits to its workers to incentivise them.
Madhuku, while raising a motion in Parliament on Tuesday, said the world over, governments were grappling with the provision of high quality public goods necessary to support economic growth and development.
Such services include health, education, security and many others offered by civil servants.
Madhuku said the effectiveness and quality of these services depended on the performance of civil servants.
He said achievement of sustainable development goals, which envisage a world where everyone has access to basic public goods depends on a motivated workforce.
“The Zimbabwean government has some constitutional obligations to its civil servants and these are: government is sensitive to section 65(1), (4) and (5)(a) that talk of fair labour practices and reasonable wage, just, equitable and satisfactory conditions of work and also engagement in collective bargaining,” Madhuku said.
“The National Development Strategy Number 1 (NDS1) — this agenda also clearly articulates that achievement of NDS1 depends on efforts and work of a motivated workforce in the public sector and that regular reviewing of remuneration will be prioritised to maintain real wage levels. Therefore, the second republic is dealing with these issues even for Vision 2030.”
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Madhuku said a research, which was carried out by the Global Centre for Public Service Excellence, showed that low motivation was the major factor in Africa’s human resource crises.
The reasons proffered as to why the morale of public service employees was declining included reduced salaries, insufficient equipment or resources to effectively perform duties, dysfunctional government budgets and also pressure to remain effective despite resource or costs constraints.
“So, in all humans and in order to live a worthwhile life, basic needs like food, water, shelter, warm clothes, rest, safety and security must be met first before psychological needs like love and belongingness and esteem are met,”Madhuku said.
“Let me look at the proposals for civil servants’ non-monetary benefits. These may include but not limited to portions of farm land for agricultural purposes, mining syndicates, also housing schemes,” he said.
“Let me add here that these housing schemes can be based on monthly contributions made by civil servants so that they own something and have roof over their heads when they leave work.”
Madhuku also cited health and funeral insurances as some of the non-monetary incentives.
“I am also proposing free or discounted parking and tollgate fees and also availing domestic goods and programmes like solar projects. I am talking about such schemes where civil servants, if they have or amass these things, they will be useful even after leaving work,” he said.
The legislator also advocated for voucher schemes, free WiFi, especially at workplaces because the use of WiFi and related gadgets was no longer a luxury.
“After all, many of these civil servants use WiFi at work to enhance their effectiveness in the delivery of services,” he said.
Teachers have declared incapacitation, while nurses and doctors have downed tools on several occasions since 2017 over poor working conditions.
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