Good progress on government systems review— Saulos Chilima
Vice-President Saulos Chilima has stated that a “very good progress” has been made in the review of the government systems of civil servants allowances, procurement and contracts.
Chilima, who is leading a Civil Service Taskforce conducting the review, has said he is certain the process will be done within the 90 days as directed by President Lazarus Chakwera.
On February 14 2020, the President made a directive that a taskforce be set and make a review as well as come up with suggestions on how the civil service can be restructured.
The vice-president has indicated that the taskforce has been holding a series of meetings and consultations.
“Very good progress has been made, and we are very certain that we are going to deliver within that timeframe and we promise a good quality product,” explained Chilima in a video posted on his official Facebook page.
He added that the taskforce will be announcing when exactly the results and suggestions will be submitted to Chakwera.
The taskforce held its first meeting on February 23, nine days after the announcement by Chakwera.
Recently, there have been calls from different stakeholders including the Office of the Ombudsman for the need to review the allowance system in government ministries, departments and agencies.
The call came against the background of alleged abuse of the K6.2 billion Covid funds whose audit revealed that some misuse was due to unjustifiable allowances.
Mathews Kasanda is a journalist who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Malawi (The Polytechnic).
In 2015, Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded him the Best Print Media Education Journalist of the Year accolade.
He joined Times Group Newsroom in September 2019.
