The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has denied claims by some civil servants who worked as election officers during the 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections that are still owed money for services rendered to the Commission.
During elections, ZEC hires officials from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education including other government agencies.
The affected civil servants spoke to CITE on condition of anonymity and claimed that ZEC only paid them 80 percent of what they were owed for their services. One of the concerned teachers said:
Presiding officers received their remaining balance of US$360 when initially they were paid US$320.
We were told that only 20 percent is remaining, but to our surprise, the presiding officers received more than 20 percent so it is not clear how much we are supposed to be paid.
Contacted for comment by CITE, ZEC Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Utloile Silaigwana queried why those officials who claim to have grievances chose to go to the media instead of visiting ZEC offices. Said Silaigwana:
I am not aware because they did not come to me claiming they were not paid and second, we have clear channels of communication where we communicate.
How do I know these people are genuine? What if these people just want to tarnish the image of ZEC?
We normally engage people who are employed by the government and they know exactly that if they have issues they do not run to the press but inquire at our offices. Civil servants do not act like that.
We always communicate with civil servants every time and those who we hired know the amount they should be paid.
I cannot respond fully because I do not have enough information on who these people are.
By right, we have to know the station they were deployed in and their EC numbers so that we can check.
What if it’s someone from the streets who wants to tarnish ZEC’s image? How do I know?
Silaigwana insisted that civil servants who were hired by ZEC for the 23 August general elections were paid for their services.
He said ZEC has official lines of communication with the Public Service Commission (PSC), adding that the same procedures used in the past will apply in hiring staff for the December 9 by-election.
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