His Excellency the State President, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, has challenged Principal Secretaries to spearhead the task of fixing broken system in government.
Speaking on Tuesday at Kamuzu Palace when he held at interface met with the Principal Secretaries (PSs) for various government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), the President challenged them to embrace their role as controlling officers and use the same to effect necessary change.
“My task is to give you direction on what you must focus on and to engage in continuous evaluation of whether you have what it takes to fix a government system as broken as ours is,” he said.
He reminded them of the key role they have to play to help government effectively deliver its long-term developmental priorities, as outlined in the Malawi 2063 Vision, the 1st Ten-Year Implementation Plan (MIP1), and the three-year Socio-Economic Recovery Plan.
The Malawi leader observed 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 advised the PSs to be to be tough, honest and brave with their workforce.
“It will feel like an uphill battle at first, but you will be proud to see the change and the impact it has on all Malawians. I want you to know I believe in you. Together, we can be the change we want,” he said.
The President also disclosed that the PSs will now be required to meet Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) monthly where they will be subjected to performance appraisals once every quarter.
Chakwera said the first goal of these measures is to create synergy among the PSs and increase the level of collaboration between them and his office.
“Ultimately, we must work for Malawians as one team. The second goal is to ensure that we are on the same page regarding what exactly is broken in the Civil Service and what we must do as a matter of urgency to fix it. The third and final goal is to ensure that there is no single MDA that is motivated by anything else other than excellent service to Malawi and its people, because if anyone in the Civil Service is there for any other reasons, it is your job to change the people or change the people,” he explained.
