By Rudo Saungweme

In a bid to cushion civil servants from economic hardships, Government has injected ZWL $100 million to support Civil Servants in its newly established Government Employees Mutual Savings Fund (GEMS Fund).

Speaking in a press statement yesterday, Public Service Commission (PSC) Secretary Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe said, “Government has provided seed capital of ZWL $100 million with the possibility of the amount being doubled to ZWL $200 million to support Civil Servants kick-starting the scheme,” he said.

Wutawunashe said that the scheme which is voluntary mobilises savings by Government employees for the purpose of wealth creation adding that Civil Servants can benefit through concessional loans to assist them with wealth creation projects and other requirements. He said that those who opt to join the scheme will contribute 2.5 percent of their basic salary.

Wutawunashe said that members of the fund will withdraw the totality of their contribution with accrued interest upon termination of employment.

He said that PSC has been greatly encouraged by the strong support given to this and other such initiatives by the Office of the President and Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in the context of the Tripartite which comprises of the Office of the President and Cabinet, the PSC and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

Wutawunashe said that Cabinet also initiated the operationalization of Garrison Shops for the Uniformed Services, namely Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Zimbabwe Police Service and the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service to ensure convenient access to reasonably priced commodities.

He said that the Garrison Shops are based on a self-financing model as they entail selling of goods to customers.

Civil Servants are said to benefit from SILO shops which will also operate on the basis of affordable pricing of commodities.