Staff Reporter

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana yesterday clarified on the issue of the percentage of civil servants who are supposed to report for work after Cabinet announced a 25 percent on Tuesday, while Public Service Commission had earlier announced a 10 percent.

A circular dated 19 July 2021 from Secretary of the Public Service Commission, Jonathan Wutawunashe to Heads of Government Ministries announced that the Government was reducing the number of workers present at the office from 40 to 10 percent to slow the spread of COVID-19 as cases continue to surge.

Ambassador Wutawunashe emphasised that line Ministries should rotate staff in a manner that no employee shall remain at home for more than 21 days at a stretch.

However, Cabinet on Tuesday made a contradiction, approving 25 percent to man Government institutions as part of the measures to decongest both public and private workplaces.

Posting on his Twitter handle yesterday, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana, said Cabinet had noted that the 10 percent was a low number which would make it difficult for available people to effectively execute their duties.

“Yes there was a suggestion to reduce the number of Civil Servants coming to work to 10 percent but Cabinet noted that it was difficult to provide any service with such a low number. The final resolution is that public service is operating with 25 percent of the staff and not 10 percent,” he posted.

In the Circular, Ambassador Wutawunashe instructed Heads of Ministries to continue ensuring that staff members working from home are capacitated with ICT equipment and adequate internet facilities for them to work efficiently and productively. He highlighted that those coming to workplaces must also be well supported with efficient and sufficient bandwidth to facilitate the holding of virtual meetings and other e-enabled communication.

Same warned that there shall be strict monitoring and enforcement of staff attendance at workplaces adding that daily staff attendance records should continue to be submitted to the PSC before 1300 hours and any variation should be accompanied by a clear justification.

Meanwhile, as at 21 July 2021, Zimbabwe had 91120 confirmed cases, including 59627recoveries and 2809 deaths. To date, a total of 1 292 6424 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19.