HARARE – President Robert Mugabe’s government has awarded teachers hefty salary increments of over 750 percent as it moved to placate restless workers ahead of a key election at the end of the month. 

The new salary increases will see the lowest paid teacher earning Z$3.9 billion, which officially translates to US$130 000 but is a mere US$100 on the widely used parallel market. 

The highest paid teacher now earns $5.7 billion a month, up from the $500 million they used to get before the government hiked the salaries. 

Raymond Majongwe, the secretary general of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, confirmed the increments but queried why the government had waited a few weeks before a tricky election to award the salary increments. 

“Yes we have got a huge salary increase which will see the lowest paid teacher earning $3.9 billion while the highest paid will get $5,7 billion. 

“We certainly wonder why the government left it until this late to give teachers what they are worth. The whole move smacks of an election gimmick to buy votes,” said Majongwe. 

Mugabe is facing a tricky election on 29 March against his former finance minister Simba Makoni and popular Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai. 

The veteran Zimbabwean leader has since last month been dishing out farm implements and higher salaries to government workers such as soldiers and nurses as he moved to placate a restless population ahead of the elections. 

Zimbabwe’s teachers have been on strike since schools opened for the new year last January demanding massive salary increments and an improvement in their conditions of service. 

The two-month strike had paralysed Zimbabwe’s education system that was once revered as one of the best in Africa.