The Zimbabwe Army has reportedly snubbed an initiative by the Emmerson Mnangagwa-led government to impose a 2.5% tax on civil servants so as to generate funds to subsidize garrison shops for the uniformed forces.
The revelations were made by the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe in a statement made on Thursday.
Said ARTUZ, “The divisive 2,5% tax imposed on civil servants to feed our military is a sick attempt to set civil servants against each other. We are aware that members of the military have already turned down this scheme and labelled it as unrealistic and divisive. Whoever is pushing this agenda is an enemy of the state determined to destabilise our public service.”
On Wednesday, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said to help ease conditions for the security forces, the government would establish garrison shops to enable service personnel to buy cheaper goods.
Mutsvangwa said all government workers would from next month start contributing 2.5% of their monthly salaries to a state savings fund. Security force members who make the contributions would be able to buy goods cheaply from the new shops.
The minister said consultations were still being held with the public service commission, which employs all government workers.
Speaking alongside Mutsvangwa Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said, “Garrison shops in terms of physical structures already exist in the cantonment areas but there is no subsidy, that is what we want to try to cure with this proposal.”
