By Pemphero Malimba:
The Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) has backed the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, which has directed civil servants to stop the tendency of operating from districts that are far from districts of their workstation.
In a statement dated January 31, 2026, and signed by the ministry’s secretary Reverend Moses Chimphepo, the ministry says the tendency is contributing to poor service delivery and draining public resources such as fuel.
It notes that this happens as government officers cover long distances to work, thereby reporting late for duty or, in some days, failing to report for duty altogether.
CSTU President Lameck Magawa said the union was aware of the problem and cited Nkhata Bay, Chiradzulu, Mulanje, Thyolo and other districts bordering Lilongwe and Blantyre cities as some of the places where the tendency was rampant.
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“Resources such as fuel are always at risk. For example, it is almost 46 kilometres from Mzuzu to Nkhata Bay and almost 20 litres are used per day, of which you can see that 100 litres are spent only on commuting (per week).
“Again, such officers report for duty late and sometimes twice a week. If you can look at the issue of Likoma District, some employees are commuting from the mainland [Nkhata Bay] and, sometimes, they spend the whole month without reporting for duty,” Magawa said.
He said, for example, that the mode of transport to Likoma District was not conducive for officers who operate from other districts.
“The mode of transport between these two districts is the use of the Illala, which comes to the mainland on Saturday night and goes back to Likoma on Tuesday. This means that once you miss it on the scheduled day, you need to wait for a week before you can board it,” he said.
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He said there was a need for the government to consider constructing additional houses for civil servants.
“If you can look at districts such as Nkhata Bay, it is hard to find a good house for rent. The government, through the Malawi Housing Corporation, has not done enough, in terms of house construction. Most residents are constructing houses in Mzuzu City. As such, there is a need for the government, through the Malawi Housing Corporation, to allocate funds for the construction of good houses in the mentioned areas.
“Again, the government should put in place measures which can help it to curb the malpractice,” he said.
Social commentator Wonderful Mkhutche challenged the government to take serious steps to address the problem.
“The government has to take serious measures on this, including tracing public servants that go to work late. These must be warned and asked to relocate to places near their workplaces,” Mkhutche said.
Meanwhile, in the statement, Chimphepo has indicated that the directive intends to improve efficiency and overall public service delivery.
Initially, line minister Ben Phiri made the directive during his tour of district councils across the country.
