By Nomusa Garikai- ”As ARTUZ we are resolute that our members deserve better salaries that are commensurate with their labour. We will not go back on our demand for a US$ indexed salary to the interbank rate,”stated the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) statement in response to the latest government pay offer.
“To save our country from the current economic malaise, we urge the government to urgently restore the purchasing power parity of civil servants to stimulate productivity.
“The genocide in the education sector was brought by the underpayment of teachers. Destroying our education staggers the developmental plans of our nation. It is imperative that we urgently reverse the erosion of our education system.”
The Zimbabwe economy has been shrinking for years now; this is a historic fact. And yet the teachers, doctors, nurses and all the other civil servants have been demanding that government, their employers, must improve their conditions of service. This is just unattainable, whether or not they deserve the improved conditions of service is irrelevant. The employer cannot improve the conditions of service when the source of funds is shrinking.
What the teachers, doctors, etc. have not asked why is the country performing badly? And, as the follow up question, what can we do bout it? For the last 40 years they have avoided asking themselves these questions and meanwhile the country has sunk deeper and deeper into the morse.
The answer to the first question is obvious; four decades of corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship has left the country’s once upon a time robust and promising economy in ruins.
The answer to the second question is equally obvious, the nation has been stuck with the corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF regime for the 40 years because the party rigged elections.
Zimbabwe is a pariah state governed by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs. And as long as the country remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. Period!
The problem of bad governance is one that affects us all and one we have ignored at our own peril. And so if our teachers, doctors, etc. are serious about ever being paid a living wage; they must first demand democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections and only thereafter can they ever hope to get a living wage.