Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet Ambassador Peter Kasanda has challenged civil servants in Kazungula district to familiarize themselves with the Patriotic Front Manifesto as it’s the basis for policy implementation in the country.
Ambassador Kasanda said the PF Manifesto was a social contract between government and the people of Zambia as it highlighted the people’s needs, aspirations, difficulties and challenges.
He said the country was in a new political dispensation since the coming to power of the Patriotic Front in the September 2011 elections where a lot of promises were made and it was for this reason that every public officer had to know the contents of the ruling party Manifesto.
Ambassador Kasanda who was accompanied by Permanent Secretary for Parliamentary Business Simon Miti, Permanent Secretary for Policy Analysis And Coordination Division at Cabinet Office and Southern Province Permanent Secretary Chileshe Mulenga, said this in Kazungula district today when he addressed heads of government departments.
He said civil servants were government agents tasked with the responsibility of translating the PF Manifesto into government programs.
Ambassador Kasanda said job creation was contained in the PF Manifesto and this was being fulfilled partly through creation of new districts which currently stood at twenty eight (28) bringing the total number of districts countrywide to one hundred and one (101).
He said districts were important as they served as the core of service delivery.
Ambassador Kasanda further said government had identified a number of areas for job creation such as tourism and agriculture as they had numerous sub-sectors.
He urged civil servants to be committed to their jobs as their duties revolved around service delivery and meeting and satisfying the aspirations of the people using the ‘bottom up’ approach.
Ambassador Kasanda described Kazungula as a peculiar district in a positive way, but noted that it was facing accommodation, staffing and transport challenges that needed to be addressed at the earliest possible time.
And Permanent Secretary for Parliamentary Business Dr Simon Miti was shocked to note that money was released for developmental projects but it was not received at district level.
Dr Miti said there was need to identify the bottlenecks which were preventing funds from reaching the intended destination.
Meanwhile, Southern Province Permanent Secretary Dr Chileshe Mulenga observed that work output in the district was low as officers spent most of their time commuting between Kazungula and Livingstone where they resided.
Dr Chileshe urged the officers to be committed to their jobs and to desist from engaging in the mentality of ‘entitlement’ by waiting for government to do everything for them.
He challenged Kazungula District Commissioner Pascalina Musokotwane to lead by example by residing in her district and not in Livingstone and further called on the officers to invest by building their own houses in Kazungula as the district had a lot of economic potential.
Dr Mulenga said no one would come from outside to develop the country and it was up to the civil servants to take the lead in implementing developmental projects.
Ambassador Kasanda and his entourage are in Southern Province on a tour to assess the extent to which the directives and pronouncements made by President Michael Sata on Southern Province have been implemented.
ZANIS
too political.
i thought PS’ are professionals who are surppose to be above board…
dont they have there own ‘blue book’ that guides them on how to operate?
just thinking aloud…
But these fools leaves much to be desired
So Dr Simon miti is PS!
No as public servants there is a code to follow that is non-partisan!what is this now?..what is so wrong with continuing with the laid down procedures..following PF manifesto .are we in UNIP era..is PF the only party in govt!please ..this is so uncomfortable
That is what happens with \tribal governments. All trash
Having worked in the ANC government this is true but not easy to implement. A lot of govt officials will oppose this due to misunderstanding. Better, translate the manifesto into the existing policies e.g. on some types of govt projects like civil and construction engineering, it should be mandetory that contractors employ, train a certain percentage of local labours the area where a project is being implemented so as to empower them and boost the local economy.
Civil Servants should follow Government policy when working