Civil Service Commission Chairperson, Peter Mumba, says the new dawn government wants to restore public confidence in the civil service which people had lost due to rampant corruption in the past.
Speaking in Kitwe today when he paid a courtesy call on Kitwe District Commissioner Lawrence Mwanza, Dr Mumba promised to solve operational challenges faced by various government offices.
“We want to restore the dignity and the credibility of the civil service. In the past, you will agree with me that people lost confidence in the system because of the rampant corruption that used to occur and being practised in the past,” Dr Mumba said.
He noted that everybody will have an opportunity to be selected for public service jobs because of the positive strides made in fighting corruption in the civil service.
And Dr. Mumba commended the Kitwe district team which was involved in the selection of health workers for involving officers from the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the President to ensure transparency.
He noted that the selection of health workers was a tough responsibility because of the competitiveness that was created by the overwhelming number of applicants jostling for 196 slots against a total number of 4,293 applicants in Kitwe alone.
Earlier, Kitwe District Commissioner, Lawrence Mwanza, described the selection process of health workers as transparent and fair.
Mr Mwanza explained that the team worked even throughout the weekends.
He however stated that there were a few challenges arising from not funding the recruitment process.
The government is currently working on the recruitment of over 11,000 health workers, which is being undertaken in districts.
Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission is happy with the health worker recruitment exercise in Northern Province.
Civil Service Commissioner Wendy Mulenga, who is leading a team that is conducting the monitoring and evaluation exercise in the province, said the process is on course.
Speaking when she paid a courtesy call on Northern province Permanent Bernard Mpundu, Ms Mulenga reiterated that successful applicants will start receiving their appointment letters within the course of next week.
She expressed happiness that decentralization has been actualized in the ongoing recruitment process, through the delegated powers.
Ms Mulenga noted that the decentralized recruitment process will also help create confidence in the system, among local people.
The Commissioner added that it is the aspiration of the government to address the high levels of unemployment in the country, as could be seen from the overwhelming number of applications.
And Mr Mpundu explained that the process has been conducted smoothly in the region, despite a few challenges.
He said the human resource committees in the province is equal to the task and has drawn a number of lessons from the exercise.
The Permanent Secretary has since urged applicants that will not be selected, to remain positive and look out for other recruitments in the near future.
Peter Mumba is a very sober Commission Chair unlike Ackson Sejani. You can’t achieve any reforms if you antagonize the people you work with. Most senior civil servants that include DCs, Pass, Commanders, etc are appointed on political partisan lines. That makes it tricky to have a professional civil service. So your mission is commendable but requires endurance and levelheadedness. You’re likely to face challenges from many quarters