According to Defence ministry correspondence, soldiers
received a salary increment effective April 1.
Their allowances would also be reviewed according to
grades.
This is not the first time uniformed officers have received
salary increments ahead of their colleagues within the public service.
The local currency has been sliding in value in recent
weeks, as inflation gallops, sparking an increase in prices of goods and
services.
According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, an average
urban family now needs over $90 000 a month as of March to survive.
The soldiers’ salary review was forced by inflationary
pressures, the ministry’s circular says.
“Be advised that the following deliberations have been made
between Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), Defence Forces Service Commission (FSC),
Ministry of Defence (MOD) and war veterans and Treasury, the DFSC has approved
part of the implementation of the military concept and related allowance for
colonels and below,” the circular reads in part.
In 2020, there was a widespread outcry from ordinary civil
servants over an increment awarded exclusively to the men in uniform.
Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri and army spokesperson
Alphios Makotore said welfare issues for soldiers were confidential before
demanding questions in writing.
“You may have to send your questions in writing. Security
and defence matters cannot be discussed over the phone,” Muchinguri said
yesterday.
On Friday, Makotore said: “Issues of salaries are
confidential and we are going to respond on Monday.
“Send the questions in writing and we put it on record.”
On Thursday, MDC Alliance legislator Peter Moyo told
Parliament that the government’s failure to adequately remunerate soldiers was
pushing them into crime.
In March, three soldiers were each sentenced to 15 years
behind bars after being convicted of armed robbery, theft and unlawful entry by
the Zimbabwe Defence Forces general court martial.
However, teacher unions could not hide their anger over the
alleged unfair treatment they are getting from their employer.
“The government is very aware that the military plays a key
role to preserve power and we don’t care about who is in power.
“What we need is food on the table and that can be done by
improving the welfare of the teachers,” Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure said.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Takavafira
Zhou added: “The government has never taken us seriously.”
Teachers are at loggerheads with the government over poor
working conditions.
Last year, there were reports that junior soldiers were
sent on forced re-training in Hwange as punishment for demanding a salary
increase during an ostensibly no-holds-barred meeting. Standard
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