Africa-Press – Zambia. When President Hakainde Hichilema appointed his first Cabinet Ministers, he also created new ministries, abolished some and re-aligned others. He proceeded to appoint new Ministers to fill those portfolios and scheduled a day for the swearing ceremony.
However, this action of creating new ministries required parliamentary approval and stakeholders and constitutional lawyers expressed immediate surprise that President Hichilema was not alerted to this non-negotiable constitutional requirement.
Many people of goodwill forgave the President for this constitutional breach as he was deemed new and may not have had prior experience with the public service and governance. You May Like
The transition was also blamed for the lapse and gaps. However, it became clear that President Hichilema would not adhere to enhancing the Constitution and good governance tenets when he appointed politicians to positions of public service.
President Hichilema appointed UPND Deputy Secretary General, Patrick Mucheleka as Permanent Secretary in charge of Special Duties at Cabinet Office, and officials from Alliance partners; NDC Vice President, Josephs Akafumba as Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security, and Thabo Kawana from MDC as Director Spokesperson, a newly created position at Ministry of Information and Media.
Despite protestations from all stakeholders that President Hichilema was politicizing the civil service and had reneged on his earlier stance that he would promote a non-partisan public service, he gave the concerns a deaf ear.
Since then, things have gone south as the public service has experienced a literal purge with officers accused of being members of the Patriotic Front removed from their positions, retired in national interest, fired or packed at Cabinet Office.
Cabinet Office and PSMD is said to be holding up-to 300 senior public officers removed from their positions and sent home and whose fate remain unknown.
Sadly and in many cases, their replacements have not inspired professionalism or absence of accusations of nepotism, tribalism, cadreisms and favoritism.
This takes us back to the mischief and vices being seen to be repeated that Zambians had felt would be behind us after the August 2021 General Elections.
For Mr. Clayson Hamasaka and Mr. Thabo Kawana, it appears that the President created special positions and never subjected such positions to competition and formal procedures.
A new position in the public service requires development of the job description, ranking, stricture and qualifications as developed by Management Development Division (MDD), structure created and placed in Government approved Establishment by Public Management Service Division (PSMD) and Treasury Authority sought to enable budgeting for emoluments and allowances for the position or office, from the Secretary to Treasury.
Positions are not created for individuals, rather positions are created for whoever could qualify to hold such a position. Is it a Ministry? A Department? A Directorate? A Section? Or does it fit in already existing establishment?
For the appointment of Mr. Clayson Hamasaka, I am one of those that have called for a vibrant communication structure at both State House and Ministries. I have called for dynamism to respond to the current challenges driven by the new media and social-media.
I have called for communication specialists that should involve social-media experts, digital media designers and other support services to meet information management required in the information age.
Old formats and structures may require radical reforms to meet this new dynamic changes. But that is not to say that constitutional and legal procedures may be abandoned or may be deemed expedient in order to carry out these reforms.
They say to change the Constitution, requires that you follow its own guidelines provided in how to reform it… The Constitution calls for the President to perform his duties and exercise his powers with dignity, leadership and integrity.
Further the President’s powers exist in a legal ecosystem of the Constitution, subsidiary laws, rules, regulations and practice. The President may bring his own style and leadership approach but he is not expected to depart from the law or break the law in the discharge of his duties.
Below are the constitutional provisions in relation to the powers of appointment. 92. (1) The President shall perform, with dignity, leadership and integrity, the acts that are necessary and expedient for, or
reasonably incidental to, the exercise of the executive authority. (2) Without limiting the other provisions of this Constitution, the President shall—
(a) appoint ambassadors, high commissioners, plenipotentiaries, diplomatic representatives and consuls;
(b) receive and accredit foreign ambassadors, high commissioners, plenipotentiaries, diplomatic representatives, consuls and heads of international organisations;
(c) negotiate and sign international agreements and treaties and, subject to the approval of the National Assembly, ratify or accede to international agreements and treaties;
(d) establish, merge and dissolve Government ministries, subject to the approval of the National Assembly;
(e) appoint persons as are required by this Constitution or any other law to be appointed by the President;
(f) appoint persons as are required to perform special duties for the Executive;
(g) confer honours;
(h) sign and promulgate proclamations as specified in this Constitution or as prescribed;
(i) initiate Bills for submission to, and consideration by, the National Assembly
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