Many appointments made in the judiciary were noted to be of individuals sympathetic to the cause of the ZANU PF party even were the law directed otherwise. To a great degree the rule of law was totally comprised in the Zimbabwean system of government.
Due to the dominance in government for a long time by one party, public accountability of government structures and functions is not an engraved character in Zimbabwe's body politic let alone the general public. For that cause the Zimbabwe government generally does not adequately tolerate questions of public policy and general governance.
Government ministries in the government of Zimbabwe are headed by political heads which are called ministers. These are appointed by the president after securing a position in the House of Assembly (parliament) or Senate. Unless one is elected an MP or senator (or appointed by teh president to be a Senator) it is not possible to hold the office of a minister in the Zimbabwe government.
Ministers in Zimbabwe are automatically members of cabinet. It is very rare and near taboo for ministers to question own party policies at national level or to question or oppose the president on any policy matters. Due to rampant polarisation and general atmosphere of political fear and extensive patronage across the political divide be it ZANU PF or MDC this could mean the end of one's political career.
Bureaucracy and read-tape are generally rife in government departments in Zimbabwe. Decisions and implementation of projects and programs take discouragingly long. The disgruntlement of public officers due to low salaries in the range of US$175 per month certainly contributes to how things are done in government.
In fact many government officials who have an opportunity to do so rack in on travel allowances. In 2009 the government spent a total of US$25 million on foreign travel. This should encompass allowances, airfares and accommodation. The President of Zimbabwe is known to travel with an entourage of up to 80 people and
diverting the national airline, Air Zimbabwe for official and holiday trips.
The Zimbabwe government constantly faces huge difficulties servicing foreign missions which many have complained to be too many for such a small economy. They accuse the government of creating patronage opportunities. Foreign embassies staff have been reported to go months on end without any salaries and living on allowances. In Canada the Zimbabwean embassy there was reportedly almost evicted at one point for failing to pay rentals.
Like many other African countries, the government of Zimbabwe is not free from corruption even at the highest level. Since its inception the anti-corruption commission in Zimbabwe never prosecuted a single high ranking government official let alone politician despite wide spread media reports of corruption in government. The Commission is relatively well funded with commissioners driving top of the range vehicles.
In terms of income, the Zimbabwe government collects most of its revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT), import duty and Pay As You Earn tax (PAYE) from formally employed people. In 2010 the government had an expenditure budget of about US$2 billion to be financed largely by taxes as there is no balance of payments support currently flowing into Zimbabwe due to unserviced international debt.
Great information (:
ReplyDelete