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Talks, dialogue, negotiations and GNU - Post June 2008 "elections" - Index of articles
Too
many cabinet posts
The
Zimbabwean
September 16, 2008
View article
on the Zimbabwean website
Zimbabweans have criticized
the size of the new coalition cabinet, saying 46 ministers was a
waste of money in a country where many live in poverty.
The outcry this
week came after political rivals Robert Mugabe, the president, and
Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the MDC, announced a deal
on a coalition government setting up 31 ministries and their deputies.
This will be one of the
largest cabinet Zimbabwe has ever had since independence. Questions
will continue being raised about the need and cost of such a large
grouping.
The government conceded
that the cabinet was large, but said it was necessary to include
all communities across the country.
Tsvangirai's MDC, which
argued for 15 ministries compared to the 46 that have been agreed,
is expected to get half the cabinet seats though it was unclear
which ones.
Information minister
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, while warning journalists to report responsibly
in the transitional period, said no price was too high to ensure
peace, harmony and reconciliation, healing and stability that will
spur and grow the economy and create even more wealth.
But the head
of the National
Constitutional Assembly, Lovemore Madhuku, accused Zimbabwe's
political leaders of creating a "totally wasteful government".
Political commentator
Ronald Shumba said: "This is a very bad start for a coalition
that has yet to be accepted by a majority of Zimbabweans. We don't
need all these ministries and can't afford them."
The ministers and their
deputies will be entitled to forex-denominated salaries of over
USD10,000 each, official Mercedez Benz vehicles, allowances, and
several perks including land, housing and schooling.
It is estimated the cost
of the new cabinet as costing more than USD300, 000 a month.
About 80 per cent of
Zimbabwe's population lives on less than USD1 a day.
Business groups have
long complained Zimbabwe's public wage bill takes too large a portion
of expenditure, eating into money that would otherwise alleviate
poverty.
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