By Takudzwa Changadeya
Harare — Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), has announced a nationwide protest on January 14, 2025, to oppose the government’s decision to raise the retirement age for civil servants and uniformed forces.
The government recently increased the retirement age for members of the uniformed forces and the public service by five years.
According to Statutory Instrument (SI) 197 of 2024, issued on December 30, 2024, and effective from January 1, 2025, civil servants’ retirement age has been raised from 65 to 70, while the retirement age for regular soldiers has been extended from 50 to 55.
Additionally, police officers will now need to serve for 30 years instead of 20 to qualify for pensions.
Critics, including ARTUZ, argue that the government’s decision to increase the retirement age reflects a failure to address deeper socio-economic challenges.
By keeping older employees in the workforce longer, the government is exacerbating youth unemployment, as fewer opportunities will be available for younger workers to enter the job market.
ARTUZ leader Obert Masaraure criticized the move, stating, “The government looted pension funds and now they want to force us to work to the grave. We won’t accept that.”
Masaraure also warned that the policy could lead to a brain drain, as educated young Zimbabweans might seek opportunities abroad, thus weakening the country’s labor force and innovation potential.
He further argued that the policy would increase long-term pension liabilities, further burdening the government’s wage bill.
While ARTUZ and other critics are vocal in their opposition, the government has defended the policy, arguing that it will help reduce immediate pension payouts and ensure that older employees, who may have accumulated more experience, remain in the workforce longer.
This move is also seen as a way to alleviate some of the financial pressures on pension systems that have been under strain in recent years.
Other critics note that while the policy may temporarily reduce pension expenses, it could ultimately lead to more significant economic challenges.
With a growing debt burden and an already stretched wage bill, increasing the number of pensioners and extending service years could have long-term financial consequences.
Many also argue that the policy could entrench outdated practices, hindering much-needed innovation within the civil service and delaying succession planning.
Masaraure emphasized that the planned protests are part of a broader effort to address the unresolved hardships facing Zimbabweans in 2024.
He cited issues such as drought-induced school dropouts, insufficient salaries for civil servants, and widespread poverty as contributing factors to the growing dissatisfaction with the government.
“In the absence of a coordinated resistance infrastructure, the government of (President) Emmerson Mnangagwa has become notorious for unilaterally making anti-poor policy decisions,” said Masaraure.
“Underpaid Civil Servants got more promises of salary increments than the increment itself. At the close of the year salaries still remain at a paltry USD300.
“The underpaid Civil Servants are now heavily in debt and over 90% hardly take home USD 200.
“Shockingly as poverty levels shoot through the ceiling, the ruling elites and the politically exposed seem to be accumulating more wealth,” added Masaraure.
Masaraure also expressed concern over the potential extension of Mnangagwa’s mandate beyond 2028, calling this an unconstitutional move that could be imposed through coercive state measures.
“With all the failures, Mnangagwa is now pushing for the extension of his mandate beyond 2028,” said Masaraure.
“This unconstitutional move is likely to be forced down the throats of citizens using the coercive apparatus of the neocolonial authoritarian state.
“It is clear that if citizens don’t organize a solid resistance infrastructure, Zimbabwe will be looted dry, the constitution will be mutilated, and poverty levels will continue to rise,” added Masaraure.
“ARTUZ calls upon all citizens from all walks of life to come together in 2025 and demand #FreedomNow,” concluded Masaraure.
