Africa-Press – Zambia. BALLY and his colleagues mean well but they are on a mission impossible if they do not clean up the civil service, says former secretary to the cabinet Sketchely Sacika.
In an interview, Dr Sacika told The Mast that even the recent complaint by President Hakainde Hichilema while in Livingstone that there was a disconnect between top government leadership and lower ranks of the civil service was a sign that there was a problem.
His comments are in light of a meeting for senior public service management called by Secretary to the cabinet Patrick Kangwa on Friday which was cancelled after delegates to the meeting failed to show up.
Following the cancellation of the meeting scheduled for Mulungushi International Conference Centre (MICC), Kangwa said he cancelled the meeting because a quorum was not formed.
He said a comment would be given once the matter is reviewed adding that the meeting would be rescheduled. But Dr Sacika wondered what was meant by not forming a quorum and described the action as gross indiscipline.
“What is a quorum? It is absolutely absurd,” he said. “You cannot run any orgnaisation or enterprise of any kind if you overlook the issues of discipline. Discipline in our civil service looking at the situation as an ordinary person has broken down. There is no discipline. People don’t work. They don’t report for work on time. They knock off when they want to. They put in the very minimal. People don’t care. Why? Because the management system has broken down. Nobody is managing their affairs.” Dr Sacika said civil servants were an engine of government that should behave accordingly.
“Now the civil service is supposed to be the engine of government. It is supposed to be the implementer of and executor of government policy and programmes. Now if civil servants don’t work, if they don’t care, how can any government succeed? It can’t,” he said. “Bally and his colleagues mean well but they are on a mission impossible if they do not clean up the civil service. In other words, if they do not fine tune the engine of government that is supposed to execute government policies and programmes it is as simple as that. You can see for example the confusion over the implementation of CDF (Constituency Development Fund). The recent complaint by Bally himself that there is a disconnect between the top government leadership and the lower ranks of the civil service are signs of an institution which is not functioning properly. We have some permanent secretaries who don’t do what they are required to do by way of managing their ministry.”
Dr Sacika said what happened at Mulungushi International Conference Centre last Friday was a manifestation of gross indiscipline on the part of the delegates who did not show up on time.
“This is a manifestation of the gross indiscipline on the part of the officers who had decided to absent themselves from a meeting called by their boss. That is what it really amounts to. Under the circumstances disciplinary action against the officers is good. The officers should be asked in writing to explain why they were not able to attend a meeting called by their boss. Those who will fail to offer a convincing reason should face disciplinary action,” said Dr Sacika.
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