Protest feared over pay rises for top officials

A government announcement of substantial pay rises for cabinet ministers, members of parliament, local chiefs and headmen as Zimbabwe's economy faces its worst crisis in two decades drew angry protests on Wednesday from critics of President Robert Mugabe. An Extraordinary Government Gazette on Tuesday also said the salary rises and perks will be back-dated to July. Local headmen and chiefs were awarded increases ranging from 500 percent to over 750 percent, MPs were given 300 percent, and cabinet ministers a 200 percent raise. Analysts said the increases were aimed at helping them cope with the crisis which has seen inflation go up to 70 percent, interest rates go up more than 60 percent and an unemployment rate of over 50 percent. "We are simply reeling with shock at this announcement, given the priorities in this free-falling economy, the health crisis, the land problems, the massive HIV/AIDS emergency and growing poverty," Bidi Munyaradzi, the director of Zimrights told IRIN. "We have our fingers on the pulse in this country, and when we urge people to moderation, diplomacy and restraint, they are now telling us they can no longer accept it. It will not be long before people take to the streets." The increases were also condemned by the Zimbabwe's Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU): "We cannot accept it when civil servants were denied 20 percent cost of living allowances earlier in the year," said Nomore Sibanda, the spokesman for the union group. Public doctors last month ended a six-week strike over low salaries, outmoded equipment a lack of medicines. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other foreign donors have suspended aid to Zimbabwe's government, citing economic mis-management and confusion over the cost of its military intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Newspapers said that under the newly gazetted increases, an MP's salary will go up to 426,000 Zimbabwe dollars (US $11,240) a year while a cabinet minister's increases from 213,000 Zimbabwe dollars ($5,620) to 640,000 Zimbabwe dollars (US $16,886). "By raising the salaries of local chiefs and headmen, the government is seeking to buy votes in next year's general election. By giving the cabinet and the other elite a huge pay rise, they are trying to ease tensions within the ruling ZANU-PF party," Munyaradzi added. "While the elite are getting richer, the majority of people in this country approach the new millennium poorer than ever with frustrations and tensions mounting. It is not a healthy situation."