Zimbabwe To
Audit State Employees
The
government of Zimbabwe says it will next week start an audit of
its workers to establish a credible payroll.
The check
follows criticism that thousands of people who were not state
employees were receiving salaries.
Public Service
Minister, Eliphas Mukonoweshuro said the audit would be held
from November 23rd to December 18th and
would also involve members of the security forces.
A report by the
country's auditor general published last month showed that the
Ministry of Youth Empowerment and Indigenisation had more than
10,000 people on its payroll who were not employed by
government.
Mukonoweshuro
told journalists, ’’ The idea is for government to be able to
vouch for the integrity of the payroll, audit staffing levels
and eradicate irregularities if any.’’
The $4
million for the audit would come from a multi-donor trust fund
administered by the World Bank.
Zimbabwe is
under pressure to carry out extensive political and economic
reforms after the formation of a unity government in February,
but the new administration is yet to get critical funding from
reluctant Western donors.
Critics had
accused President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF of smuggling party
supporters onto the government payroll in the past, especially
youths from a national training programme blamed for unleashing
election violence on the opposition.
Reuters/Yinka
