ZAMBIA
Veteran Zambian politician Vernon Mwaanga (pictured) has attacked the politicisation of the country’s Public Service.
Mr Mwaanga said the original path to seniority in the bureaucracy through promotion on merit was being replaced by the direct appointment of “political cadres” into important positions, including Permanent Secretaries.
“Appointments into senior Civil Service positions based on political affiliation reduces levels of efficiency in the administration of Government and introduces patronage,” Mr Mwaanga said.
“Senior Civil Servants fail to advise their political masters on the dos and don’ts for fear of losing their jobs.”
He said that as a result, Public Servants were most concerned about self-preservation.
“Nearly all the professional Civil Servants I have talked to over the years are demoralised and demotivated because they feel overlooked and marginalised when it comes to senior Civil Service appointments and even promotions,” Mr Mwaanga said.
“Consequently, we now have two categories of Public Servants namely ‘Civil Servants’ who are the true professionals, and what is being referred to sarcastically in Civil Service corridors as “Evil Servants’ who are the political party cadres brought into the Public Service in the last few years.”
Mr Mwaanga said it was important for Public Servants to understand and recognise that they were servants of the people they served and not their masters.
“Patronage in the Civil Service is dangerous and has sometimes led to a situation where Civil Servants behave arrogantly, threaten and even feel more important than the people they are supposed to serve.”
Mr Mwaanga is a founding member of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy, and after the party’s victory in the 1991 election served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1994.
Lusaka, 28 January 2020
