HARARE – Civil servants have criticised the government for interfering in the affairs of the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS).
The criticism came after riot police on Thursday deployed to the Rainbow Towers in Harare and stopped a PSMAS Annual General Meeting (AGM) from being held.
Unions accused the Public Service Commission (PSC) of being behind the deployment. The PSC earlier said the AGM should be postponed until the conclusion of a forensic audit at the medical aid institution.
Civil servants, united under the banner of the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU), held an emergency press conference at PSA House to express their concerns about government interference at PSMAS, which they called “illegal.”
ZCPSTU education sector representative Raymond Majongwe charged that civil servants would not tolerate government meddling in PSMAS affairs.
“We are here to send a clear unadulterated uncompromising position that states that as workers we take great exception to the conduct by government, conduct by people within PSMAS as well as the Public Service Commission that there are clear efforts to usurp and steal this entity that clearly belongs to the members who are the civil servants,” Majongwe said.
“We have no kind words for this action that we are noticing in the country. The AGM which was supposed to happen this morning did not happen because of undue influence and trigger-happy police officers who came at the venue and ordered members out.”
Civil servants have since threatened to take a two-pronged approach in response to the government’s interference with PSMAS operations. This two-pronged approach entails pursuing legal action while also holding mass protests, which are scheduled to begin next Monday.
Enock Dongo, president of the ZCPSTU, accused the government of interfering in PSMAS solely to cover up its role in causing the current challenges confronting the medical society.
“The government wants to take advantage of that, we know clearly that these challenges were created by government through not providing enough subscriptions that they are supposed to pay to PSMAS. As we speak right now, we understand that government is paying US$8 equivalent Zimbabwean dollars which is around ZW$1,800. To expect PSMAS to function normally with Z$1,800 as a contribution is a nightmare,” said Dongo, a member of the Zimbabwe Nurses Union.
“The government for the past so many years has failed to increase that contribution to the extent that with the hyperinflation we are having right now we don’t expect any miracle from PSMAS to run the medical aid when we know how much is X-Ray, medication, paracetamol, antibodies, you need a lot of money.
“And they expect PSMAS to have a miracle and run that entity with ZW$1,800 a month which is almost US$3 in the parallel market rate.”
PSMAS was founded by civil servants to provide medical cover to members at a reasonable cost. The medical aid has almost virtually collapsed, however, as low premiums by members and a refusal by the government to raise its contribution combined to make the scheme unviable.
The government contributes 80 percent of the premiums, while members pay the other 20 percent.
