not been there
President Lazarus Chakwera Tuesday challenged principal secretaries (PSs) to be fully committed to the cause of fixing the government’s broken system, which they are in control of.
Chakwera engaged controlling officers at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe, where he asked them to be brave, honest and tough for impactful change.
“I am just as determined to not entertain any attitudes or behaviors from the civil service that are designed to make us fail. The bottom line is that the civil service has been out of control for far too long, and you are the controlling officers I am trusting to help me change that,” he said.
The President added that his task would be to give direction on what to focus on and engage the PSs for continuous evaluation to give them the necessary support.
Chakwera said fixing the broken system would require collaboration among controlling officers and his office and understanding systems that are broken in the civil service, among other things.
“You are the ones who control the civil service and the fact that the civil service is broken and in urgent need of fixing means that the task of fixing it rests on you,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba said the civil service lost its glory a long time ago and that there is a need to retain such glory in the region.
“Then, the civil service was like the best in the region but, over the years, it has been going down where accountability systems have not been there, [we also have] the [issues of] work ethics and values. There are several things that will, moving forward, be put together [by us] as a team,” Zamba said.
One of the controlling officers, Secretary and Commissioner for Disasters Charles Kalemba, assured the nation that change would start manifesting in the country towards achieving its aspirations.
There are 37 principal secretaries in the country.
Recently, Zamba engaged controlling officers when she, among other things, announced austerity measures that the government would follow as part of addressing economic challenges the country is facing.