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Civil servants under fire
Zvamaida Murwira, The Herald (Zimbabwe)
January 01, 2007

http://www1.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=13372&cat=1&livedate=1/1/2007

Ombudsman Mrs Beatrice Chanetsa has dismissed some civil servants as a burden to taxpayers because they lack commitment to duty and are unsuitable for public service.

In her 15th annual report tabled in the House of Assembly recently, Mrs Chanetsa said due to inaction in the public service, administrative issues were taking long to be resolved at the expense of the public.

"Mr Speaker Sir, cases of inaction in the Public Service that stretched for long periods of up to 10 years and more were noted during the review period, which indicated quite clearly that some Government workers lacked both loyalty and commitment to duty and were unsuitable for public service work as they had become a burden to the taxpayer," said Mrs Chanetsa in her report.

She said although cases of inaction had been reported in the past, never before had such a large number of inaction been recorded.

Of particular mention were cases against the Pensions Office where she said many cases of non-payment of compensation for injury, death and retirement were not being dealt with expeditiously, resulting in some beneficiaries dying before receiving their dues.

"Many cases of non-payment of compensation for injury or death on duty, non-payment of pension benefits for pensioners, war veterans, war victims' orphaned children and widows were investigated and my office was left convinced that all was not well at the Pensions Office.

"Long delays in actioning matters brought before them characterised the Pension Office's work and in some cases, beneficiaries died before receiving their dues," said Mrs Chanetsa.

She said the Pensions Office's work was well-regulated by various statutes and statutory instruments since pension benefits have always been considered to be a human rights issue.

These laws were the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Public Service Act, Pensions and Other Benefits Act, Pensions Review Act State Service (Disability Benefits) Act, War Pensions Act, War Victims Compensation Act and War Veterans Act.

"Despite that adequate legislation is in place, the intended beneficiaries expressed dissatisfaction with the Pensions Office's poor service delivery.

"Complaints centred on loss of important documents and pensions files, inaction, delays, rudeness, uncaring attitude and general inefficiency," said Mrs Chanetsa.

"The State Pensions and Compensation Office, which deals with issues related to retired pensioners and disabled former Government workers respectively, received most of the complaints. It was observed that the unduly long waiting period that beneficiaries had to endure before their benefits were paid out had subjected them to untold hardships."

She gave an example of one case of one complainant whose service in the Zimbabwe National Army was terminated in 1993. More than five years passed without him getting his pension refund and terminal benefits.

The complainant revealed that he had visited the Pensions Office on several occasions but nothing materialised.

On May 26, 1998, the Ombudsman's Office approached the Director of Army Pay and Records requesting to know whether the necessary documents had been prepared and they were advised that the complainant's refund pension forms had been sent to the Pensions Office on September 10, 1992. The Ombudsman then wrote to the complainant advising him of the response and requesting his pension number so that they could effectively communicate with the Pensions Office.

"There was no response from the complainant despite several letters being written to him. Eventually, (the) complainant's son visited on November 17, 2003 and advised that his father had died in January 2000," said the Ombudsman.

"He was advised to tell his mother to visit the Pensions Office with a copy of the late father's identity document, death certificate and marriage certificate and inquire on the pensions. It was later revealed that they had been to Pensions Office on several occasions without any progress."

Mrs Chanetsa said there was an increased the number of compensation cases under the State Service (Disability Benefits) covering people who would have sustained injuries while on duty.

Many complainants had gone beyond the stipulated 540 days within which they should have been compensated.

"Surprisingly, some complainants had not appeared before a medical board to determine the degree of their disability and hence, no compensation could be paid.

"Moreover, serious cases were not treated urgently as was expected thereby causing severe hardships to the injured former Government workers," she said.

The Ombudsman is established under Section 108 of the Constitution and is empowered to investigate action taken against any officer, person or authority in the exercise of the administrative function of that officer.

Acting President Cde Joice Mujuru has previously also taken a swipe at some inefficient civil servants saying they were doing a disservice to the country.

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