President Lazarus Chakwera on Thursday stormed the Capital Hill without warning and questioned controlling officers in the Department of Human Resource Management and Development (DHRMD) on why civil servants had not yet received their August salaries.
Nyasa Times has information that public servants were supposed to have their salaries remitted by last week but to-date have not been wired.
Chakwera, who was accompanied by his deputy Saulos Chilima and Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Zangazanga Chikhosi, was coming from the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) where he presided over the launch of Scaling Up Nutrition 3.0.
“While on the way to State House, he [President Chakwera] directed the motorcade that it goes to the Capital Hill. Upon arrival, the President visited two offices and asked whether they had received their salaries to which they said no.
“From there, the President proceeded to the DHRMD, the department responsible, and interrogated the Controlling Officer (CO) on the chronic delay and openly expressed his great displeasure at the delays,” said a State House official who did not want to be named.
According to the official, President Chakwera has demanded that a report on the problem and the remedial measures to be taken to urgently resolve the it be submitted to his office tomorrow [Friday] for his continued intervention.
Social commentator, Jackson Msiska, hailed President Chakwera for the act, saying it showed that he was also concerned with the malaise about civil servants’ unfortunate predicament.
“The President needs to do more these across the board in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). These shake-ups must come often so that no one is found sitting on their jobs,” Msiska.
But Msiska advised senior public officers not to always wait for the President before they could start performing.
“It is unfortunate that it had to reach to the extent of the President storming Capital Hill. These people know what they are supposed to do and when. They have a well laid out job description. Public officers must learn to do their jobs without being pushed at all,” he said.
Source: https://www.nyasatimes.com/chakwera-storms-capital-hill-demands-answers-for-civil-servants-salaries-delay
