Mugabe gets substantial pay rise

President Robert Mugabe and senior government officials in Zimbabwe have received an almost 600 percent pay rise, the official Herald newspaper reported at the week end. Mugabe is now expected to earn Zim $20.2 million (about US $25,250 at the official rate) a year, up from the Zim $3 million he was previously being paid. Vice Presidents Joseph Msika and Simon Muzenda will now be paid Zim $18.4 m (US $21,800) each, up from Zim $2.7 million. The local newspaper said the President's wage increase was still "far less than what chief executives of most companies are earning". But observers say the latest wage increase is likely to spark criticism. Zimbabwe is currently facing a severe economic crisis, with 80 percent of the country's 11.6 million people estimated to be living in poverty, inflation at 300 percent and 70 percent of the labour force unemployed. Paul Themba Nyathi, a spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said in a statement in response to the pay rises, "but while Mugabe looks after Mugabe, he is unable to do anything for the ordinary, suffering people of Zimbabwe." Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's High Court ruled last Friday that MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai must be given a firm date for his legal challenge to the outcome of last year's presidential election, filed over 15 months ago. The High Court decision means court officials have 7 working days to set a date for the case to begin.