Premier Morgan Tsvangirai in his Strathaven residence visitors'lounge receiving the Diplomats trainer and his trainee. Premier Tsvangirai is not unduly concerned with moving into the Official Residence but Zimbabweanas are perfectly entitled to question the motive behind President Mugabe retaining control of both State House and the Premier's residenceIn the Hierarchy of Needs motivation theory Abraham Maslow ranked human needs that impel people to act towards their achievement in a rank order that starts with basic survival needs and culminates in self actualization needs at the upper end.
Whereas Maslow was concerned with trying to explain what it is that drove (motivates) people to spend the effort they do to attain objectives within the work and social environment his findings apply with equal force to reasons why the coalition government has come under the microscope for its failure to deliver accommodation to new ministers in the coalition government.
In the past the government was never subjected to that scrutiny because President Mugabe simply recycled the same tired and underperforming Ministers each time his party stole elections and formed the government.
In the Needs theory Maslow identified that the basic needs that causes people to act involves the need to survive which requires such basics as food, water, shelter or accommodation and clothing or warmth.
Maslow found in his investigation that unless these lower needs have been satisfied people will have no other reason to work than to see to their satisfaction while those that achieved satisfaction of these basic needs replaced them with the next group which he classified safety and security needs.
Basic needs are environmentally prescribed and thus situational and in many instances actualization needs which are supposed to be the highest level needs transform into basic needs for people in different circumstances.
The official residences and certain perks extended to top politicians, civil servants and business executives are in every sense actualization rewards that are provided to rub the ego of the recipients and give weight to their esteemed statuses.
In many instances recipients of the perks own all or most of the things that are extended to them by their occupations.
They accept the perks for purposes of showing off their status rather than out of basic need for same.
However there are instances when acceptance of the perks is out of necessity even where the beneficiary owns similar provisions in his own right.
In the case of government Ministers that reside outside the capital where they are required to take up office on appointment as such, there can be no doubt that the need for accommodation in the capital becomes imperative notwithstanding them owning their own accommodation elsewhere than in the capital.
For such Ministers the housing perk ceases to be a status symbol but a basic need.
In the case of the many Ministers in the current government that own their own house/s in Harare including the Prime Minister, there is no justification whatsoever for them to be extended a Ministerial House or to be leased a government owned house other than for purpose of stoking their egos.
But in Zimbabwe where previous governments have invested so much of the taxpayer’s money in purchasing and or building mansions for top government workers and Ministers the occupants of such posts should be allocated the Houses rather than let them to undeserving partisan political apologists or maintain them while they remain unoccupied.
In many instances the occupants are charged sub-economic rentals for the properties and maintenance costs far exceed the annual rentals and are borne by taxpayers.
That is why leases of the Houses to Ministers and other public servants on fixed performance contracts must be renewed annually and terminated as soon as the employment contract between the lessee and the State terminates.
The National Housing and Social Amenities Ministry must have an Estates department that has records of all properties owned by the State and who occupies them and on what terms.
It is embarrassing for Minister Mhashu to tell the Nation that his ministry is conducting an audit of who occupies which government property and the terms of such occupation some seven months after he took over the reigns over the Ministry.
Such records should be at his Permanent Secretary’s fingertips and readily available for him to peruse as and when he deems necessary to ensure compliance with leasing conditions for the properties.
We have no doubt that Minister Mhashu was not forthright in his disclosure that he is carrying out an audit for the properties over the past seven months and is yet to establish who occupies which property.
Even more disturbing was his assertion that the State is exploring means to allocate the Premier a Stand and build him a personal house that will be his for keeps when
his term as Premier expires.
Who will pay for the cost of constructing the House minister Mhashu and have they been consulted and agreed to such extravagance and dangerous precedent?
The Premier’s residence has been part of the establishment for decades and remains unoccupied because the Minister has not recalled the property from the former lessee who should be moved to State House which is the Official residence of Presidents.
It is an insult for Mhashu to tell the nation that he will abdicate responsibility of relocating the President and Premier into their official residences preferring rather to burden the State with the construction of a personal property for the Premier who already owns other houses in a country where millions live in plastic shacks.
In the UK the Labour Party lost millions of supporters when its Ministers and MP’s abused the housing perks extended to them and there have been swift moves to redress the leakages with most abusers being asked to pay back the excesses they had benefited.
Minister Mhashu must know that being a president or Premier does not entitle one to a State built house after he leaves the service of the government as most of these top officials will receive a taxpayer funded Pension to live on in retirement.
The reason why the issue about the Premier’s residence is under scrutiny is not because the Premier has demanded to be relocated into the official residence but because Zimbabweans are aware that there is a State residence reserved for the Premier’s use whose upkeep they are paying for but the legally entitled occupant is not in residence for unexplained reasons.
These are the reasons Minister Mhashu must be giving to the nation and explaining why they cannot be overcome.
The Zimbabwe Premier Morgan Tsvangirai I know will never sink so low as to make an issue of the Official residence as he is motivated by greed and the desire to show off but rather is concerned with improving the quality of life of the Zimbabweans who are not as privileged as he is and do not own their own houses.
This is not to say that Minister Mhashu must not make arrangements for the Premier to occupy the official residence Zimbabweans paid to accommodate their Premiers in the esteem they hold the office and likewise the President.
Should the Premier decline to take up residence there at who knows he may even offer that it be used to accommodate the Ministers who are gobbling thousands in monthly rentals to Hotels at a time the government is struggling to pay decent wages and salaries to devoted professionals and labourers in its employ.
It is not morally right for President Mugabe to Hold onto Dzimbabwe House the Premier’s official Residence when he is no longer the Premier.
The fact that he prefers to live in his private residence in Borrowdale does not disqualify President Mugabe to occupancy of State House which as far as the Nation is concerned is at his disposal.
The fact that he decided to retain occupancy of Dzimbabwe House when his government abolished the Premiership in 1988 does not entitle him to retain occupancy or control of the same property after the signing of the GPA neither should he have a say in who is allocated use of the property given that it has always been the Premier’s official residence from the date it was built.
The extravagance of the State beggars belief when it accommodates out of Harare ministers in expensive hotels for prolonged periods when there are several houses built by taxpayers for the All Africa Games that must be made available for these top ranking officials when needed.
Deposed Ethiopian Mengistu Haile Mariam flew straight into one such houses and is living there free of charge yet our Ministers are confined to one room in a hotel for over six months at astronomical rentals that the country can ill afford.
Other than those houses there are other properties occupied by non Civil servants like Stalin Mau Mau and many others allocated to former Ministers and senior civil servants who have left government service and or are deceased and are being sublet to private individuals at exorbitant rentals way in excess of what the undeserving beneficiaries are paying to the State.
Minister Mhashu must buck up his ideas and start acting for the taxpayers or do us a favour and resign if he can’t assert his authority and stop the financial bleeding suffered by the government as a consequence of his incompetence.
All Ministers that own personal properties in Harare must not be extended government houses or the hefty accommodation allowances they draw from a bankrupt fiscus each month.
The State House that was allocated to the late Dr Nkomo and other houses occupied by undeserving former Ministers and Civil Servants must be repossessed by giving occupants three months notice of termination of the leases that have not been renewed for decades.
It does not make sense to pay a hotel US$300.00 per day for one occupant when a Doctor has to work for 30 days to earn the same if not a lesser amount.
I have been privileged to visit the Premier on several occasions and he does not prioritise his relocation to State accommodation but the nation is entitled to question why he is not being seen to be utilizing facilities they have provided for his office and continue to maintain while they are lying unoccupied.
That is the irritation Mhashu must address and not gallivanting and officiating at Schools prize giving ceremonies that must be left for David Coltart to sort out.
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