Staff Reporter
Civil Servants subscribed to the Government Employees Mutual Savings (GEMS) facility have expressed concern over the late and non-disbursement of the loans.
The civil servants have also expressed concern over the decision by the Public Service Commission to reduce loanable amount to a maximum of ZWL$80 000 from ZWL$100 000 for 12 months loans and ZWL$500 000 for 36 months loans which they had been promised.
“We are very much worried about how the GEMS loan facility is being handled by responsible authorities. We were promised at the beginning of the scheme that the process will be very efficient and effective, but it seems the facility is now facing some challenges. A good number of people applied for the loans three months ago but they are yet to receive their money.
“We were also promised loans of up to ZWL$500 000, enough to fund meaningful projects but the Public Service Commission (PSC) has since reduced the loanable amount to ZWL$80 000, too little to finance any viable project,” said Mr Trymore Gonese, a Teacher from Mashonaland West Province.
Mr Gonese revealed to this publication that he had applied for ZWL$300 000 with the intention to start a poultry project and the ZWL$80 000 will not be enough.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU) has also registered displeasure on the way the GEMS Fund is being run.
“The idea to create the GEMS fund was very nobble, as lives of many civil servants were going to be transformed through the financing of projects of their choices. However, our main worry is on the way the fund is being managed. Firstly the ZWL$80 000 is too little to finance any meaningful project and the time being taken to process the loans is too long,” said a contact within ZCPSTU.
Civil Servants who would have contributed to the Fund for three months are eligible for loans at an interest rate of 10 percent per annum, with an option of choosing repayment period of 12 to 36 months. Currently 170 000 people have joined the scheme and are eligible for loan disbursement.
Currently the PSC has a backlog of two months.
Relatedly, there are concerns over slow processing of papers for senior civil servants duty free car importation. This according to some civil servants is due to the cumbersome process which involves offices of authorities involved. In many instances, people complain that vehicles reach the bonded warehouses before papers are ready thereby leaving beneficiaries paying exorbitant storage costs.
