By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. There has been much pomp and fare about current recruitment efforts for 11,000 medical personnel and 30,000 teachers, earmarked for the 2022 fiscal year. The new dawn administration has sought to portray this intended recruitment as a major score on their part. But what is there to score about a Government recruiting civil servants? Between 2016 and 2021, the size of the civil service grew by approximately 160,000, which translates to an average annual increase of 32,000. So if the previous regime was employing an average of 32,000 civil servants per annum and the new regime intends to employ 41,000 (11,000 + 30,000), what’s the major difference here, which an entire Republican President should be citing as a major accomplishment of his administration?
2. It is also worth noting that the new dawn administration’s intended recruitment of 41,000 civil servants is unlikely to be an annual event for each of the next 5 years that they will be in power, but rather it appears to be a once-off event. I very much doubt that in the 2023 fiscal year, the new dawn intends to recruit another set of 11,000 health workers and 30,000 teachers. So if we are to look at the expansion of the civil service cumulatively, we need to compare the 160,000 cumulative number under the previous regime against the 41,000 cumulative number under the new dawn. So far, the new dawn is behind by 119,000 (160,000-41,000), that is even assuming that they will indeed see through their current efforts to recruit 11,000 health workers and 30,000 teachers.
3. Truth be told, we do not know how many civil servants the new dawn administration will employ in their 5 year period in office from 2021 to 2026. So far there is nothing to celebrate about their intended recruitment of 41,000 civil servants for the 2022 fiscal year. If we are to objectively ascertain whether the new dawn outperformed the previous regime in terms of civil servants recruitment, the best time to do that would be in 2026. At that time, if the new dawn continue to employ an average of 41,000 civil servants per annum, they would have recruited approximately 205,000 (41,000 x 5 years) which we could then say is higher than the 160,000 achieved by the previous regime in the past 5 years.
4. However, if on the other hand the new dawn administration only hires 41,000 civil servants in this 2022 fiscal year and then decide to effect an employment freeze thereafter, it means that by 2026 their cumulative total number of civil servants hired will only be 41,000 which will be far less than the 160,000 hired by the previous administration. So, right now it is premature for Bally to be over the moon celebrating the planned recruitment of 41,000 civil servants. There is nothing monumental or worth celebrating there. Unless if one is really short of victories to celebrate. This appears to be the case with Bally.
5. Perhaps if Bally achieved real success such as constructing the planned Livingstone – Ndola dual carriageway, then he would have something tangible to celebrate about. I personally find it embarrassing when a Republican President keeps on boasting about performing routine activities of Government such as employing civil servants or releasing money to buy drugs in hospitals. Those are the routine activities of Government sir. No need for boastful celebrations about such trifles. Only small-minded people celebrate trifles.
6. For Zambia to develop to its rightful level, we need a big-minded President with big dreams for this nation. A President who will only engage in boastful celebrations when he/she achieves significant milestones for the nation, such as flagging off an electric car assembly plant, or reducing the cost of living by half in one year, or launching our own satellite into space for cheaper and faster internet, or paying off half of our national debt in a year, or reducing the cost of borrowing from financial institutions to single digit, or constructing a dual-carriage way from Livingstone to Solwezi, or having the first indigenous Zambian dollar billionaire etcetera. Those are the kinds of successes which a big-minded Republican President is supposed to celebrate. Not routine activities like employing civil servants or the treasury releasing money for procurement of medicines. For the benefit of this nation, perhaps Bally should stop being small-minded and try to be big-minded.
Thank you for this observation. New doom government is myopic.
Procurement of drugs and recruitment of civil servants is routine. Bally is thinking he is doing Zambians a favour. Bally should also learn to appreciate. Hospitals and schools were all built under PF
Just how is employing Civil servants a development or and achievement to be celebrated? I thought private sector job growth is a sign of d development and a real cause for celebrating. Government can pay good salaries to current civil servants and you celebrate employing more?
And is doing what you’re employed or hired to do a great achievement and celebrate highly? And when u take tax pairs money that they the tax payers ave employed you to handle then when u release it to the taxi payers in buy drugs etc u then say it’s a great achievement and celebrate ? No we employed you to do just that so it’s not an achievement
Stop being jealous Sean, when you criticize, you’ll be like where are the jobs you promised during campaigns, now you shift goal posts n saying it’s nothing? Give credit where it’s due bane….ebuntu!
As usual SET is very methodically analytical
#3 Chanda Sean has given stats which explain why there’s nothing special about recruitment of civil servants. If indeed governmet wasn’t employing were we going to have anyone in hospitals and schools. The fact that it wasn’t publicised doesn’t mean they were not recruiting at all. Just wait for the outcry when the excercise starts.
ST……….
You are indeed very dull , just a loud mouth………….
Whats the point of employing 160,000 civil servants as the PF did under a wreacked economy ?????
Bally would never be so reckless………….
This number employed now is only because of a campain promise….
Or definitely untill the economy improves……..
Sean Shoni Zero Tembo, your analysis is childish to say the least, and your statistical analysis, the statistics are misleading. If the previous government was employing such numbers as you claim, there would have not been such High unemployment levels especially among the youth. Give credit where it is due, you lose nothing.
Brother President Sean Tembo, you forgot to factor in the new districts and provinces created by Sata and also moving of district centres needed more civil servants between 2011 and 2021. Euro bond money financed that and other loans. No wonder we are here begging for leniency from the East and West. I project that the number will be less or just about the PF mark. I’m sure MMD between 2001 and 2011, numbers are lower compared to PF.
There is an addition or reduction towards the employment and unemployment numbers though what is needed are real jobs driven by the growth in economic activities a cross all sectors of value I know that in terms of human resources critical to support Investments and growth in the sectors we need to do more I am also aware that Nigeria produces more than 100000 graduate say for the health sector and employees more in value chains created in sectors but still exports more than ,90000 medical Doctors and person abroad so is so other professionals in energy infrastructure and financial services including agricultural I know also that the quality of our human capital is underutilized and subject to these small inniatives but we can achieve better and provide opportunities for all local and…
Half of that 160000 are PF ghost workers…Kikikiki
Reading for information and confirmation quietly
Many Zambians are surprised with your behaviour lately, and we wonder if you will get even Zero in the next election, you are so dull.Dont think Zambians across the width,length and breadth of this country who voted for this government are as dull as you are,or as you think they are. How dare you compare this government to your rotten and hurried PF.
Govt expenditure is burdensome, so the less it spends on consumption the better. So instead of adding more people on the GRZ payroll, I’d rather we get them off so that resources for capital projects are released. If the 41,000 jobs were created by the private sector then we’ll notice real growth in the economy. Otherwise we’re just increasing the burden of the few tax payers, especially those on PAYE that suffer as much as 40% deductions from their earnings
The score is in your underwear Sean Tembo.
Before taillors will now sew School Uniforms and while they do that you can also press an order of a Sean Tembo bamba. Cos its now looking like u are typically thinking using your panty and not your UNZA brain. So we will keep refreshing your panties and not your brain.
Kikikikikiki kwekwekwekwe!!
Ouchi!
“Only small-minded people celebrate trifles.”
is kind’a smack in simple h²’s face.
There are no two ways about this. Simple minded and Thickheaded musokotwane budgeted for it, he and h² have an obligation to employ. Nothing to brag about.
That’s analytical. Straight up truth.
Sean we hear you. Yaba!
This man is very wise. I keep asking myself the same question. Celebrating about employing civil servants using tax payers money is like masterbating. Hh enjoys masterbating and self pleasing himself..blowing his own horn. F00Iish monkeys
But there some points in his article worthy of not the unemployment rate is high with low industrial and services creation he some points to note and see he writes something to read and compare to reflect educationally o zambias fiscas apart from politics
Can the government employ grasscutters , signwriters garbage collectors and road sweepers as well. All our cities need these given the sorry state they are in and seeeing that government will now employ instead of the private sector. The new dawn government will reduce unemployment. Ahem!
This year there are thousands of civil servants over sixty years of age and ready to retire. They have to be replaced. Only a simple mind will think that the government has done wonders… simply make announcements and the simple minded will fall for it. The shortage of teachers and health workers is only felt in far flung places because people don’t want to go there. Government will only score if they will make these people to serve in these areas. I know of people who were recruited to go and work in Mporokoso but fought hard to remain in the copperbelt. In many cases you find more staff at a small hospital than is required.
@ayatolla, employing public workers may not necessarily be consumptive unless you had it all wrong in terms of planning right from the beginning
As long as our political economies continue being predestined by foreign forces we shall continue blaming ourselves for their greedy intents to exploit us, our resources
It’s a pity
@ayatolla, employing public workers may not necessarily be consumptive unless you had it all wrong in terms of planning right from the beginning
As long as our political economies continue being predestined by foreign forces we shall continue blaming ourselves for their greedy intents to exploit us, our resources
It’s a pity may not necessarily be consumptive unless you had it all wrong in terms of planning right from the beginning
As long as our political economies continue being predestined by foreign forces we shall continue blaming ourselves for their greedy intents to exploit us, our resources
It’s a pity
All presidency and elected leaders must be subject to typical RASMUSSEN performance reports Infact in certain jurisdiction such performance on the economy and employment rates are so critical such that it’s a daily performance tracking rating performance against assurances and promises down grading and upgrading according The preoccupation of those elected should be to assure and performance within time frame giving performance in this case what number of employment creations has been made since taking office say monthly on average to assure this and confirm. The numbers could be larger as these could be smaller also in areas of pre School but as above creating economies and structures in private could also help including other employment opportunities creation you because you could…
Show performance Progress and is in better position than the observer simply give statistics and confirmation giving outlook and basis as to why it could by structural or cyclical issues in those employment and labour outlooks that can be reported with the monthly statistical bulletin tracking specifically growth and unemployment rate for those actively seeking in the Labour those things like the participation rates etc it should be simple and just give out the reports for people to track progress in sectors
Watching kuomboka on ZNBC
Another quarterly let’s see
Praise singers encourage HH to dream big. Pleasing cadres is no development.