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Luapula civil servants complain over Chikwakwa’s work attitude

Luapula civil servants complain over Chikwakwa’s work attitude
Written by Chibaula Silwamba in Lusaka and Simon Mutuna in Mansa
Friday, March 20, 2009 2:47:37 AM

SOME civil servants in Luapula Province have accused their provincial permanent secretary Jazzman Chikwakwa of concentrating on attending to MMD members at his office instead of performing his official government duties.

But Chikwakwa on Wednesday said he embraced all political parties and not just the MMD.

Some officers at the provincial administration, who sought anonymity for fear of victimisation, said Chikwakwa did not pay much attention to his duties but that his office was always frequented by MMD cadres.

They complained that there was confusion at the provincial offices following the arrival of Chikwakwa, who was an MMD national executive committee member before his appointment to the civil service.

A check by The Post at the provincial administration in Mansa on several occasions found MMD cadres having meetings with Chikwakwa.

But Chikwakwa said he was not the one dealing with political issues like mobilising MMD cadres but his provincial minister Dr Boniface Kawimbe.

"I am a civil servant and all party members that are in Luapula are for me. I embrace everybody and that is not true that I only attend to MMD cadres. That has now been left to politicians; my own minister honourable Kawimbe is in charge of that," Chikwakwa said.

Asked if Dr Kawimbe was in charge of MMD cadres and mobilising the party, Chikwakwa responded: "I am a civil servant. Honourable Kawimbe is the one on the MMD ticket. So they should not drag me into these things. I am for development myself."

He said he had been meeting various people from different political parties.

"Like yesterday [Tuesday], I was talking to members of parliament who are PF because we are for development. Politics of campaigning was over in October, we are now in politics of development," Chikwakwa said.

But when asked to give names of PF members of parliament he met, Chikwakwa could not reveal.

Members of parliament on Tuesday were in Lusaka for a parliamentary session.

But Chikwakwa maintained: "Well, I met some PF members of parliament."

Meanwhile, the government officials said Chikwakwa was not coordinating with his deputy and other officers he found at the provincial office.

They complained about the manner in which he was running government affairs in the province.

The officers said Chikwakwa was refusing to sign or approve some payments, saying he did not want to be found at fault during the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sittings at the National Assembly.

They said Chikwakwa had also brought in a system that allowed no other person but himself to sign and approve any payments and that no head of government department (HOD), his deputy, assistant secretary and other senior government officials could sign payment vouchers.

They said developmental programmes could not be done because they could not move from one place to another because they had no fuel and their money was not approved.

"Even a K50,000 has to be signed by the permanent secretary instead of the head of government department. Previously there were three senior officers who were signing or approving payments," the officials said. "In the past then permanent secretary Mr Clement Siame, his deputy Mr Blackson Ndhlovu and the assistant secretary were signing for payments from K5 million upwards, but any amounts below K5 million were being signed by the heads of department but Mr Chikwakwa has put that to a halt. This has derailed development activities."

Other officials at the provincial administration revealed that some district commissioners and other officers from various districts had been spending days in Mansa hoping that their payment vouchers would be approved or signed by Chikwakwa for development activities in their districts.

After Chikwakwa's appointment, several civil society organisations, opposition political party leaders and ordinary citizens opposed his choice, saying he was an MMD cadre who was being rewarded for campaigning for President Rupiah Banda.

But President Banda defended his appointment of permanent secretaries who were perceived as MMD cadres.

Speaking when he swore in Dr Kawimbe, President Banda reminded him that the MMD had performed badly during the October 30, 2008 presidential elections.

Labels: CIVIL SERVANTS, JAZZMAN CHIKWAKWA, LUAPULA PROVINCE, MMD

posted by MrK @ 2:47 AM