Maravi

TIZ advises Rupiah against nepotism

TIZ advises Rupiah against nepotism
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe and Gloria Siwisha in Lusaka
Monday, January 26, 2009 5:17:01 AM

TRANSPARENCY International Zambia (TIZ) president Reuben Lifuka has advised President Rupiah Banda to resist the temptation of assuming nepotistic tendencies if he is serious about fighting corruption.

And UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said he is not surprised that President Banda appointed people who campaigned for him as permanent secretaries because he lacked seriousness in improving public service delivery.

Commenting on President Banda's appointment of permanent secretaries last week, Lifuka expressed concern that appointments to the position of permanent secretary continue to be politicised.

Lifuka regretted that career civil servants were not recognised as government makes the appointments.

"It is a pity that as a country, we have failed to recognise and attach merit to this important office," Lifuka said. "President Banda should have taken advantage of this occasion to recognise more of the career public servants who are experienced and qualified to ascend to the position of permanent secretary. Such a gesture would have a long-term effect on the whole public sector as more and more young professionals will be willing to join public service and aspire to rise to the position of permanent secretary. These aspirations, at the moment, are thwarted by the appointment of people from outside - some of whom are least qualified to serve even as director in a ministry."

He said President Banda's administration had failed to separate the civil service from political structures.

"The position is further compounded by the fact that some people appointed hold senior positions in the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy [MMD] and it is a source of concern that they have been appointed as PS without them relinquishing their party positions," he said. "Specifically, we raise concerns about Mr Jazzman Chikwakwa who is a senior party official and board chairperson of ZAMPOST. Zambia should resist a regression into the days of the party and its government. We want to warn the ruling party that the Zambian people will not accept the use of state resources for party functions. We are aware that the MMD has failed to have this clear separation between the operations of government and the political party nor are they strictly adhering to the standard that public resources should not be utilised to run party affairs whether this is just a one off support extended to cadres who go to welcome the head of state at the airport or indirect contribution through provision of transport for party activities.

"This is not only unfair to other political parties that have no access to public resources but also amounts to mismanagement and misapplication of public resources. The appointment of party functionaries raises concerns on their impartiality to deal with issues without clouding their judgment on matters that may benefit or disadvantage their political party. Further, appointment of party functionaries lowers the dignity that people attach to these offices."

He said it was double standards for the government to require civil servants to be non-partisan and yet political party cadres were appointed to civil service positions.

"We sadly observe the doublespeak on this issue from our political leaders," he noted. "In one breath, our leaders are calling for the civil service to remain non-partisan and serve the government of the day and yet in another breath, they are appointing party functionaries who are openly partisan to the civil service. The question to ask is: under such circumstances, is it morally right for President Banda and MMD to condemn civil servants who sympathise with the opposition political parties? The civil and diplomatic service should never be used as a sanctuary for people to resuscitate their fortunes, revive their fledging political careers or even launder their images and reputations - this is a platform for service which should attract competent and able men and women. We have stated this before and we wish to reiterate - a compromised civil service is a public liability which simply fails to objectively manage the public affairs of the nation."

He advised President Banda to avoid appointing his relatives to government positions.

"We wish to advise President Banda, quite early in his presidency that nepotism is a form of corruption and if he is really serious about fighting corruption, he should resist the temptation to assume nepotistic tendencies," he stated. "This was also our advice to the late president Mwanawasa when we saw with great concern the appointment of kith and kin to positions of authority. We are saying put an end to this because if this is not nipped in the bud, even the next president will use his presidency to ingratiate his/her kith and kin. Let us stop this gravy train culture; it will simply destroy this country. Let meritocracy, excellence and honesty be the pillars of the Banda era."

However, he welcomed the changes generally at permanent secretary level.

"We strongly believe that these changes have been long overdue particularly that the conduct of some of the permanent secretaries, especially those that are controlling officers has been less than satisfactory. For some time now, the Auditor General has continued to raise serious concerns which point to inadequacies in the execution of duties by permanent secretaries especially in ensuring appropriate stewardship of public resources," he said. "It was becoming a worrying prospect for many Zambians that despite these concerns about the conduct of some permanent secretaries, little action has been taken by the appointing authority to relieve these men and women of their duties."

He urged stringent action against erring permanent secretaries.

"Transparency International Zambia would like to see more action aimed at cleaning up the public service. We are convinced that there are still some permanent secretaries who have not been removed who simply do not deserve to be in office. Allegations are abound against some of these permanent secretaries bordering on abuse of office," said Lifuka. "There are some who have misused public resources for their own private needs such as family holidays, while others have appointed friends and relatives to positions that they do not deserve and lastly, a good number of permanent secretaries have been ignoring public procurement procedures by offering contracts to companies that they have interests in. We are saying enough is enough. We call on the President and the law enforcement agencies to investigate all the allegations of impropriety and abuse of office by serving permanent secretaries as well as those who are to be redeployed or fired. Those found wanting should be prosecuted and no one should be immune from such action."

And Hichilema, who noted that President Banda had lost direction in handling public affairs of the country, said the appointment of people who campaigned for him was a sign of worse things to come.

"I’m not surprised that he effected that appointment because it is a true reflection of him and how he has used the public service. He has reached a point where he doesn't know whether he is going or coming," he said.

Hichilema said President Banda had duped public servants that had been patiently waiting to be elevated for having worked hard.

He said people should be appointed on merit and not on the basis of having campaigned for him or being his relatives.

Hichilema said President Banda's actions were not inspiring to Zambians, saying they would soon lose confidence in him.

He said President Banda had an obligation to improve public service delivery by introducing professionalism in the civil service.

Hichilema said with the global financial crisis already taking its effect on the Zambian economy, there was no need to further worsen the situation by appointing unqualified permanent secretaries.

"My heart goes to those civil servants who have worked hard to improve service delivery and expected to have their efforts appreciated. His actions are a signal of failure in government service delivery and this has exposed his lack of transparency in the manner he is handling public affairs," said Hichilema. "But like I always say, the choice is for Zambians, if they want sub-standard leadership, they get it and if they want the best, it's up to them to choose."

President Banda last week appointed 15 new permanent secretaries, retired four and promised to redeploy six.

Among the new permanent secretaries are Chikwakwa [Luapula Province], Mwalimu Simfukwe [Northern Province] and Steven Bwalya [Lusaka Province].

Labels: CIVIL SERVANTS, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, NEPOTISM, RUEBEN LIFUKA, RUPIAH BANDA, TIZ

posted by MrK @ 5:42 AM