HARARE — Zimbabwe will pay July salaries for the army on Monday, more than a week late, but teachers will receive their wages only in August, according to a union official.President Robert Mugabe’s government is facing its biggest financial squeeze since it dumped its own hyperinflation-hit currency in 2009 and adopted the US dollar.Continued salary delays could fuel political tensions. A stayaway protest movement led by activist pastor Evan Mawarire shut down most businesses, government offices, schools and hospitals on July 6 in the biggest act of public defiance against Mugabe in a decade.The government in Harare lives from hand to mouth, spending 82% of its national budget on public sector worker salaries."We have been informed of the new pay dates by the government," Cecilia Alexander, chairwoman of the Apex Council public service union, said."The correct thing is to pay the workers within the month they have worked but we appreciate that the period of delay has been reduced," ...

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