Africa-Press – Zambia. When perennial critics like Emmanuel Mwamba praise President Hakainde Hichilema’s for doing something right, it’s time to pause and think hard. “Finally he has taken them for orientation and training, a thing that he should have been done at the beginning!,” remarked Mwamba on his Facebook page in reaction to the government’s move to hold a session on Economic Governance Training for Cabinet Ministers administered by the National Institute of Public Administration.
At this workshop, President Hichilema challenged cabinet ministers to be proactive in amending legislation which hinders the country’s economic expansion agenda.
He said ministers should be in the forefront of changing laws that will facilitate economic expansion which will in turn create jobs, increase business opportunities and extend support to the social sectors. Mr Hichilema emphasized the need for such training to attain efficient public service delivery.
My view is that the timing of the workshop is not so much an issue but the mere fact that it’s been held, shows concern or admittance from the government for the importance of training ministers in this area.
Our economy is in shambles and the government sits at the top in ensuring that whatever little benefit there may be, trickles down to the common man on the street.
Equally important for this government though is the communication aspect of governing – hence the need for the government to consider training ministers and permanent secretaries on the art and science unified, effective, and efficient communication.
Let’s be honest, there are a lot of positive things this government is doing but their communication has mostly been at sixs and sevens. Horrible, if you like.
So bad that sometimes, you feel that the whole government apparatus suffers from the Tower of Babel curse. Take for instance the issue of the looming hunger.
Some government officials are saying despite the poor rain, the only thing we won’t have is a bumper harvest but they assure us that the country will be food secure. Yet, videos and pictures, some even carried by the national broadcaster, suggest a looming crisis. So, who is telling the truth?
Remember when President Hakainde Hichilema last year said the government had resolved the energy problems in the country – only for Zesco to start load shedding two weeks later!
This year, the energy minister has again assured there won’t be load shedding but visuals from the Kariba Dam suggest we may as well be preparing for dark hours in our homes.
Then you have blabber mouths like Thabo Kawana and Cornelius Mweetwa who seem to be in competition to undo each other and do the opposite of their government communication job descriptions.
With only a year in between before Zambia goes to the polls, President Hichilema will do well to organize a workshop on communication for his ministers and permanent secretaries.
You cannot achieve a buy-in from people when you have problems of poor communication. He simply cannot not have a bunch of people singing from different hymn sheets while working together. The seeming Tower of Babel syndrome must be stopped – put to an end like yesterday!
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