Works and Supply Minister Felix Mutati has called on civil servants in the country to reduce on bureaucracy if the country is to woe more investors.
Mr. Mutati said bureaucracy resulting from paper work if not handled well has the potential to scare away investors who come to invest in the country.
The Works and Supply Minister noted that bureaucracy has become the biggest enemy of progress in the country but that government remains hopeful that the civil service can change and perform to the expected standards.
ZANIS reports that the Works and Supply Minister said this at the Provincial Administration in Mansa today when he addressed heads of government departments.
He observed that political leaders in the country are there to facilitate the developmental agenda and wondered how development will be implemented if civil servants take long to implement programs initiated by political leaders due to bureaucracy.
He warned that government will not tolerate the tendency by some civil servants to loose files deliberately once they have failed to perform saying it is now time for hard work that bring results.
Mr. Mutati applauded the provincial administration in Luapula Province for its efforts towards wooing investors in the province saying the efforts of the province are in line with government policy of diversifying the economy.
He added that the results of the efforts of the provincial Administration to woe investors have already started yielding results as has been witnessed by companies like Mansa Sugar that are already investing in the province.
Mr. Mutati is in Luapula Province to grace this year’s Provincial Agriculture and Commercial Show and while, in the Province, the Minister will tour MMRP Mining in Mansa, Mansa Sugar in Chembe, and tour developmental projects in Mwense district.
It is erroneous to think that civil servants actually “lose” files. If they tell you “they can’t find the file,” what they are actually telling you is that “pay up” (a bribe of course) to get your file/case processed. Give them “something” (a bribe), and you will see how quickly your case file is located and processed. Unfortunately, talking from experience.
And YES, this sort of CORRUPTION KILLS AND RETARDS PROGRESS in the Country. Because not everybody has the financial capacity to bribe their way to a successful business that can eventually create employment for fellow citizens. It is a big problem in the Country and Govt should not just pay lip service to it. It is very disappointing and demoralizing when you come up against such attitudes from “corrupt” civil servants…
Continue….
in the course of seeking what should be straight forward and normal Govt services.
Quite frankly, it is not even funny. Especially if you have lived outside of Zambia for while and seen how other Countries’ Civil Services operate, you just want to cry when you come home (Zambia) and experience our own….the difference is like day and night.
Why do Zambians think investors is only about foreigners?? Allow Zambians to contribute to the economic growth of our country. Help Zambians than give everything to Foreigners. I hate this dependence syndrome that we Zambians have. Always want foreign and free things. Mutati wake up..
It is really a pity! Recently, I registered my second hand truck with RATSA. It is unbelievable that it took them 72 hours to register a single vehicle. I was told to come at 14:00hrs, manager not there to provide some forms and was told ‘we have a new system and you have to be captured’ . In the third day, in the afternoon, I was given all my papers within 20minutes without all the capturing and manager issues. All they wanted was for me to bribe them. Shame on them!!
Civil Service bureaucracy usually refers to the many bits and pieces of paper you have to fill in when doing a transaction. In as much as it is tedious and time consuming, it is necessary for accountability in a corrupt environment like ours.. Those are the papers that are used by relevant authorities to investigate cases of corruption. If we do away with paper work, then we are opening the door to more corruption.
Felix is very right on the unnecessary bureaucracy in Zambia on everything. I can help do design lean ‘check list’ based system to eliminate unnecessary waste of time and peoples money. Zambia needs to change. As an example, try getting or renewing your passport, you will be shocked. You will be amazed.
Of course Felix is right.
Years of experience as the Minister issuing contradictory Statutory Instruments and Regulations without head or tail has created nightmare in processing simple application.
It is Felix and his fellow Ministers which are responsible for never ending burocratic red tape.
It’s not the civil servants. They are simply following the law as made by politicians like you Mr mutati. There is nothing that a civil servant can do if the law prescribes that you have to fill out X number of forms and submit them then go and pay to the bank for the same then have 15 types of different licences as well as tpin, tax clearance certificates etc etc.You just need to simplify the law as legislatures.
Bureaucracy has been the benchmark of efficiency in government right from the Unip government of Kenneth Kaunda, right through MMD government of Frederick Chiluba, Levy Mwanawasa, Rupiah Banda and equally the PF government of Michael Sata and Edgar Lungu. If the government wanted efficiency in the way it ran business as a government, then half the workers would have been pruned to leave only the efficient ones. Sadly, that is not the case. The bloated civil service will continue to be unproductive but huge drainers of government resources as long as the powers that be, like Mr Mutati himself, pay lip service to the issue of bureaucracy. Civil servants, as is publicly known, consume money sweated for by other productive workers in the private and other worthy government wings and agencies.
why MUTATI CAN GO GRACE THE AGRICULTURAL SHOW, THIS MAN IS MMD PRESIDENT HE IS INDIRECTLY CAMPAIGNING PLEASE GIVE LESS TALK TIME WE DONT WANT COMPETITION IN 2021, WE SPENT ALOT OF MONEY IN 2016 TO FUND THE CAMPAIGNS WHICH SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE IN 2021