The government has said it will soon revive a civil servants loan facility to enable them to purchase vehicles and houses, as well as carry out other empowerment projects.
This was said last Wednesday in Parliament by Public Service deputy minister Lovemore Matuke after he was queried by MPs over the duty-free vehicle scheme that the government recently announced for civil servants.
MDC Alliance Proportional Representation MP Lwazi Sibanda had asked Matuke to explain to the National Assembly how the government expected teachers to get money to import vehicles when they were not earning enough. Matuke said:
Government has availed a loan facility for our civil servants. Recently it had dwindled because of inflation, and so there is now a plan to boost that fund so that those who want to buy vehicles may get loans from that fund. Government will also have a facility for buying houses. Government has availed a fund where they can get loans to buy vehicles, houses or any other project that they may want. Very soon that fund will be boosted.
He was also asked to explain why the government chose to say it would pay $20 000 fees for biological children of teachers when some teachers could be guardians of non-biological children.
Matuke said the request to pay for three biological children was put forward by teachers’ unions.
Early this month, the government awarded civil servants a 20% salary increase on the local currency salary component backdated to January 1, 2022.
It also offered them US$100 per month in hard currency to be deducted from their local currency salary component but teachers rejected the offer demanding US$540 they were being paid prior to October 2018.
The government says it is currently impossible to pay teachers the US$520 they are demanding or its equivalent in RTGS dollars.
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