Maravi

Professional civil service is possible, says Magande

Professional civil service is possible, says Magande
By Kombe Chimpinde
Wed 11 July 2012, 13:10 CAT

FORMER finance minister Ng'andu Magande says it is possible to have a civil service that is entrenched in integrity and professionalism.

Reacting to PF secretary general Wynter Kabimba, who said it was impossible at the moment to totally depoliticise the civil service, Magande said it was possible to maintain a professional public service.

Kabimba said when he was featured on Radio 4 yesterday that it was not easy to turn around the civil service after 20 years of MMD due to the level of its degradation.

"There are members of the MMD that are in the civil service that were beneficiaries from that corrupt regime, that were stealing money together with permanent secretaries and ministers under the MMD and these cannot be said to be non-partisan in terms of the meaning of the term," Kabimba said when he was asked why the PF had been employing cadres in the civil service contrary to their campaign promises.

"All of us are partisan in one way or another because when it comes to voting, we make a choice between or amongst a number of political parties. Whether or not you should sit in an office and get influenced on an hourly basis, how you execute your programme, that's a different thing. Whether or not you can sit and try to ignore the PF manifesto and try to implement the manifesto of MMD, that is a different issue."

But Magande said the government must take it upon themselves to re-orient the public service towards integrity and professionalism.
He said this was not the first time the country was changing governments.
"If it is corruption that the PF have identified in the civil service they must find ways of dealing with it…," he said.

"They (PF) can't say there are people who don't want to help them. It is a question of the individuals in the public service being given correct information so that that they buy into what the PF government is doing so that they deliver."

Magande said the civil service was a vital tool for the PF to deliver.

"And that would be determined by the effectiveness and efficiency employed…They need to understand 'these are programmes that we are doing. Programmes under the MMD did not benefit the people, so now you do this'. The civil service that I know for instance at the Ministry of Finance is one that is flexible. I remember when we dealt with them during HIPC, MFEZs, Triangle of Hope…," said Magande.

Labels: CIVIL SERVANTS, NG'ANDU MAGANDE, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 8:08 PM