By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. While in opposition, President Hakainde Hichilema promised Zambians that once elected, he will put in place a professional civil service that will be non-partisan. But from the list of PSs, DPSs and other senior Government officials released yesterday, it is clear that President Hichilema’s civil service is filled with political cadres and his tribesmen.
2. Let’s look at one example; the Ministry of Home Affairs. The former PS, Dr. Masiye Banda whom HH fired was a career civil servant who last worked for the Auditor General’s office and was in Govt for more than 20 years and rose through the ranks to the position of Director, before being promoted to become PS at Home Affairs about a year ago. He was a Chartered Accountant (FCCA, FZICA), a Lawyer and had a BSc, MSc and PhD.
3. President Hichilema has since appointed two PSs for Home Affairs. The first PS is Mr Josephs Akafumba who is the Party President for NDC and a member of the UPND Alliance. Mr. Akafumba did not resign his political position before being appointed as PS, which means he is doubling as PS and NDC Party President, a situation that has never happened in this country before.
4. The second PS at Home Affairs is Mr. Dickson Matembo. We are not aware of any sound qualifications that he has, and held a junior position of Principal Analyst in the Ministry before President Hichilema made him to jump four positions to become Permanent Secretary. Suffice to mention that Mr. Matembo is President Hichilema’s tribesman.
5. I want every Zambian to make their own judgement in terms of who was best suited to be PS at the Ministry of Home Affairs. Dr. Masiye Banda the highly qualified and experienced career civil servant whom President Hichilema fired, or Mr. Akafumba the politician and/or Mr. Matembo, the junior ranked tribes-mate who jumped four positions?
6. The trend whereby President Hichilema is purging people from other provinces and replacing them with those from his three-province stronghold of Western, Southern and North-Western, is totally unacceptable. He is a President for all Zambians and must reflect that in his appointments. Otherwise he is really dividing this country on regional lines in his quest to appease people that hail from his three-province stronghold. I submit.
My judgement is that all politicians are rotten liars.
Surely, Akafumba is still fighting battles with Saboi Imboela on who should lead the NDC. I haven’t heard him relinquish his position, so how come that the President of a political Party is a PS? Bally kuwayawayafye
Hello Sean,
The country is divided and the politicians want to pretend. Why appointment PS who come from the province they represent. Where is the one Zambia one Nation there? Equally Provincial Ministers?? Why is he afraid to send Mweetwa e. g to Central or Luapula and vice-versa. It’s because the country was divided by HH is partly to blame but he will not see that. He ascended to power using the same ladder. Let him transfer people across Zambia and if anyone misbehaves, discipline and fire period.
What a vicious doom cycle.! We remove one useless President for another! Who will serve us? @Deja Vu you are soo right.
This situation is not entirely surprising, only one who could not see beyond his or her nose would be surprised by HHS appointments. What is surprising though is how he sung about too much power to the president. He does not see any of that anymore. We are in for it. We will know the real president very very soon.
What a hypocrite Sean Tembo you are!!! You didn’t complain when Sata/Lungu appointed a cabinet composed of 90% from the Northern and Eastern provinces. Were you blind because they were tribesmen? Mr Editor why do you allow such useless articles to appear from intellectually bankrupt people like Sean? He is just a crybaby.
This should be illegal! Who will save us from manipulant Presidents who like throwing the laws out of the window the moment they are elected? The civil service is for civil servants not for politicians. John Sangwa please help us!
#6Hamalambo So if Lungu committed an abomination, it’s okay for the current president to do the same… what a contradiction? By the way when Lungu appointed Upnd Mps for cabinet, they all got expelled from the party and when they re contested their seats under PF they lost terribly. Please don’t see a speck in a Bembas eye and deliberately over look the logo in your tribe’s eye. People removed PF because of wrongs and here you are justifying the same for Upnd.
My president tell them .
He is doing better in appointing people from all 10 provinces than the Tribalist and Corruption Don, Ed. Lungu. Just admit that you hate people from the region formerly known as North Western Rhodesia. One Lozi , Tonga, Luvale, Lunda, Mbunda, Kaonde, Luchazi etc is one too many for you.
Well, its amazing that out of over 30 appointments made, Mr Tembo quickly spotted Matembo. Most Matembos are Tumbukas. He must have initially jumped with happiness before he found out that this Matembo happens be from a tribe he does not consider to be human enough. Spectacles of a cancerously prejudiced mind.
Sean Tembo, you have a valid point, but you always spoil it by insinuating tribalism. Zambians are very touchy when it comes to appointments of people from the Southern region. Why do we jump to tribalism when anyone not from the north and east is appointed by someone not from the north and east? Just look at your party Sean, how tribally balanced is it?
I totally agree with Sean Tembo. It is extremely wrong for HH to appoint NDC faction leader Akafumba to the position of PS. HH is seriously politicising our civil service and shredding it. That guy does not fit to be a PS. HH should ask himself why civil servants who decide to join politics are required to resign their civil service positions. It is because they are supposed to remain neutral and demonstrated impartiality in the discharge of their duties. This is the problem of having a President with zero public service experience and no understanding of how the civil service operates. One only hopes Parliament can refuse to ratify Akafumba’s appointment.
Pep tembo where you not in alliance at one time with upnd? Did you not expect an appointment if the alliance won when you were together. Just because you left at the last minute now you are bitter because that could have been you had you stuck around. I’m sure if HH offers you a position you won’t refuse.
Sean Tembo, since you started your rantings after the August 12th Elections, if anything, this is the only article that I thought would have made sense UNTIL you added, “Suffice to mention that Mr. Matembo is President Hichilema’s tribesman.”
1] I agree with your first point regarding Mr. Akafumba, not because of him NOT having Ph.D. as Mr.Masiye Banda, but because of his Political position of as a president of the breakaway faction of NDC. It would have been right for Mr. Akafumba to resign first, before being appointed. BUT note that a PS can have a political affiliation.
2] 90% of the previous government including PS came from 3 provinces and equally 3 provinces were deprived. If HH wants to balance, where does Sean Tembo think the new appointees will come from? Of all PS appointed…
CONT`D
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Of all PS appointed why is Sean Tembo attacking Mr. Matembo appointment? And uses that for his tribal propaganda, if anything, its Sean Tembo spreading division.
Just shut up Sean. That’s why HH is the President, he is smarter than you ( a PF cadre masquerading as a party president) & the whole lot is f PF.
You never raised your voice when the Dictator Lungu was ethnically purging the Tongas, Lozis & Luvales fr the civil service..
I usually don’t finish Sean’s contributions but iyi yeve naisiliza and there is abundant sense mwandini. Imwe ba UPND you are regressing too quickly. Nicani kansi? Are you in a hurry to NOT be corrupt but be expedient. First it was ma districting manje mwatawila ku appeasement. Elo remember what happened when Kampyongo took Home Affairs. Yanali maciteci yeka-yeka yaja because it was a very highly partisan appointment. Home Affairs, like Finance, and Local Government must have very, very professional civil servants. Noti aya maciteci yamene mwayamba lomba aya. Stop it inu a Echi-Echi. It is too early mwandi nikuuzen’koni. I am a very objective blogger cifukwa ine I am not partisan. Plus I have nothing to win or gain from your dealings wandi. Nizanu.
By the way, uyo Akafumba was telling Mpombo kuti he can employ him. He is already an employer; he doesn’t need a job. So why have you given him a job when he is an employer??? Why!??
When Lungu appointed Flex Mutati who was leader of MMD as minister. Nobody said anything. As long as he execute his duties as required with impartiality there will be no issues.
#18 Cabinet minister is a politician and Permanent Secretary is a civil servant. In civilized countries the PSs remain in place even when goverment changes hands. Anyway what do you expect in untamed Africa.
But upnd are behaving like headless chicken..
We need a President who will do what they said they would do.
Is this what it means to be strategic?
Is this what being strategic looks like?
These are not appointments he should have kept us waiting for. These could have been announced on his first day in office.
Is this what he really made us wait for?
No wonder he said he was in a rush to appoint PSs. He too didn’t like the names he was given to announce.
The blame still falls on you HH7.
This is stupid
Only a naive tribal f00I would believe anything that comes out of hhs mouth. A liar and hypocrite he is. I hear he has travelled again haha
Zambia quickly nose diving. All hope in now gone. Come next year it will be one of the toughest to experience.
Our president seems to have exhausted his thinking already. How can his advisors be far less experienced than himself. Joke of the year. And Akafumba, Tetamashimba and other politicians cannot be PSs.
This now makes Lungu look far much wiser than our current president.
Oohhhhh just shut up and sit down….
We have work to do……..
Wait for 2026 to act with your frustrations…….
HEHH has appointed enough people from kumwezi and the North……..
Let him have people he knows, of his choice , as long as they are zambian…..
Disgruntled tribalist supporters of the clique……….
We have learned not to waste time on you……
You will never be satisfied…….
Just waite for 2026……..
Sean Tembo and his ‘brief case nashala neka’ Party is a hypocrite, where were you when Sata/ Lungu were making tribal appointments to the civil service and Diplomatic corps from Northern and Eastern Provinces. Does Zero Tembo and many I’ll informed Zambians know that our current Deputy Ambassador to China is Former president Lungu’s son in law. His name is Jeff Banda. He’s just a Grade 12 fellow and he has not been recalled yet. So don’t play smart with us we know how that Sata and Lungu divided the country. Google who are Board Chairmen CEOS of Parastatal companys in Zambia give us a break Zero Tembo.
Some things are difficult to comment on. We hope the appointed will do a good job despite the outcry.
Unbelievable that all this numskull sees is the last name of who has been appointed to what position. How does he explain the appointments of those who don’t hail from the 3 provinces he appears to have a problem with?
We should be arguing about meritorious appointments, not tribe.
To be fair I think this president has done extremely well in terms of regional balancing appointments, compared to previous regimes. Let’s offer positive contributions or we will be stuck in this perpetual backwardness and poverty. Yes let’s condemn where condemnation is warranted.
Joseph Akafumba and Kangwa Chileshe are politicians and are not suitable for those positions
hichilema said jobs will be given on merit!…What has now changed.
A head of state for that matter… shameful….so he doesn’t stand for what he said.
Defending the indefensible! Funny how the world works. When they were in opposition, upnd sounded sober and forward thinking.
Fast forward, now in govt, they just seem lost and rudderless. All that seems to matter to them is tribe, and their supporters are clapping.
So sad for ba 2.8 million.
Zambia has very few if any honest people who enter politics to serve. They are all job seekers who desperately say anything to get jobs. Like this NDC so said president . So one day you aspire to be a national president next a civil servant , no clibre , no pride cos inside it’s an empty tin. So the reward for being the Loudest voice against kambwili and advocating to join the alliance is clear for all to see the post of PS
The clique and their tribal supremacists on LT are bean counting……..
You will never be satisfied………
As 31 Jigga Kayama Simangulungwa has said , HEHH has tried to appoint a diverse GRZ staff ……….
You now just wait for 2026 ………..
We have no time for the clique supporters and tribal supremacists counting beans……
HEHH has work to do…….
Just found out that Joseph Akafumba was Justice Permanent Secretary under PF. He was appointed by Late Sata in 2012. The complaints against his appointment now are certainly tribal . The PF cadres who are complaining never raised their voices when Akafumba was a token.
HH is correct and rational. Those people who habitually associate appointments of people from Southern, Western and North-Western Provinces to tribalism must seek psychological assistance. I do not detect any slightest evidence of rationality in their theses, which are dead on arrival. I like fair treatment of all Zambians . Nonetheless, the question which becomes is that; how does the president empower people from the aforementioned provinces if he cannot appoint some of them so that they can use their skills to improve Zambia for all who live in it. The president applied his abilities to choose competent people who can provide sought after knowledge and close the gaps and lacunas. People who are arguing against the president’s procedural appointments should equally remember to…
Sean Tembo’s thesis lacks rationality and it also reveals that the author agrees with a critical reader that he is not certain about whatever is alleged to be factual. In one sentence Sean Tembo creates a perception that an appointee (Matembo) skipped four positions (this claim insinuates a corrupt relationship between an appointee and the appointing authorities) and, paradoxically the same biased accuser explicitly admits that he is not certain about the qualifications of the appointee. Significantly, I am not using the exact words and precise sentences of Sean Tembo, but I have paraphrased everything in spite of maintaining the same meaning of the message. Sean Tembo, your claims are not connected with any hard evidence. You are devoid of self-control and you consistently invite…
Mwachosa MBUZI mwaika MBELELE.
i ve now know the reason why he tembo lost the electio. tembo is a a grat hypocrite . When ECL appointed masses from eastern he never sid anything.