By Staff Reporter
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on government to ensure timely
disbursement of budgetary allocations to the health and education sectors, warning that
delays undermine service delivery and risk leaving funds unutilised at the end of the financial
year.
The calls were made during a stakeholder dialogue on strengthening public budget allocations
for health and education, organized by Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) in
Masvingo on October 15, 2026.
Former legislator and Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Provincial
Coordinator Harrison Mudzuri said the education sector continued to receive inadequate
funding despite its widespread infrastructure and operational needs.
“The education sector is treated as very important but not urgent. On paper, when we
compare the education sector with other ministries, it would seem as if it has gotten a bigger
chunk compared to smaller ministries, but the so-called huge is little compared to the needs to
be addressed. The education sector is ubiquitous; it is found everywhere, here, and it is that
need which should be thought of. If you ignore that, you have ignored that which has already
been ignored even by geography,” said Mudzuri.
He said meeting international education financing benchmarks, including the Dakar
Framework for Action’s 20 percent budget allocation target, would not necessarily address all
the sector’s needs.
Mudzuri also called for the consolidation of child-related responsibilities under the Ministry
of Primary and Secondary Education, including transferring the Basic Education Assistance
Module (BEAM) from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
“The Ministry of Education is lacking in terms of many things, like infrastructure,frastructure
but this will often be addressed to the Ministry of Housing just like the child. The child who
is the centre of the education sector belongs to so many ministries. Why can’t we reduce the
number of people responsible for the child and leave responsibility solely to the Ministry of
Education,” said Mudzuri.
PTUZ president Dr Takavafira Zhou said government should prioritise allocating at least six
percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education, arguing that current funding levels
were insufficient to address inequalities between schools.
“Education must have six percent of the GDP. Currently it is sponsored slightly above 3.5
percent. Tragically, we no longer have equalisation funds that could be quickened up in terms
of catching up with other schools; eventually, nothing goes to these schools. Government is
actually pumping money from schools to sponsor its products. Provinces and districts are
pumping money from parents. Nothing that is budgeted from government goes to the schools
which is anomalous. The only money that is going to schools is the salaries of teachers,
which are very low,” said Dr Zhou.
My Age Zimbabwe Trust Project Officer Obedience Mazenge said the health sector faced
challenges arising from discrepancies between budgetary allocations and actual
disbursements, compounded by inflation.
“While Zimbabwe might have improved in budgeting towards meeting the Abuja Declaration
target, the difference is between what is allocated versus what is disbursed and what the
expenditure was in terms of the usage of the funds given to the Ministry of Health and Child
Care.
“The other challenge is that our budget is done in local currency and along the way many
things change, including inflation but the budget remains the same, which means inflation
affects the budget,” said Mazenge.
He said delayed disbursements continued to undermine the health sector’s ability to utilise
allocated resources effectively.
“During the 2026 mid-term budget review, it was noted that the Ministry of Health had
received only 33 percent of its budget, which means it affects national spending towards
year-end,” said Mazenge
The stakeholder dialogue sought to create an inclusive platform for stakeholders to examine
public budget allocations to the health and education sectors as well as advocate for budget
priorities that respond to the needs of women, girls and other vulnerable and marginalised
groups.
