Central Province Permanent Secretary, Edwidge Mutale, yesterday refused to meet government heads of departments in Kapiri-Mposhi district because they reported late for work.
According to the programme, the Permanent Secretary was supposed to meet the district heads of departments at 08:15 hours but by 08:30 none of the workers had reported to the venue of the meeting, a situation that angered her.
Mrs Mutale who arrived in the district at 07:30hours paid a courtesy call on Kapiri-Mposhi District Commissioner, Beatrice Sikazwe at 08:00 hours but was shocked that when she went into the conference hall at the scheduled time there was no one.
She decided to wait for some time but was angered when by 8:45 hours only two heads of departments had shown up for the meeting.
She then cancelled the meeting and proceeded with her program on the tour of developmental projects, saying she was not going to wait for her subordinates because her office had effectively communicated on her visit to the district.
[pullquote]“No! No! No! I will not sit here and wait for my juniors, it is not right! This is really sad for government, I mean if the heads of departments are going to report for work at 09:00hours what time will their juniors report? DC, this must change! The public should not wait for civil servants, no! Civil servants must be in the office on time and wait for people not the other way round!” she explained.[/pullquote]
“No! No! No! I will not sit here and wait for my juniors, it is not right! This is really sad for government, I mean if the heads of departments are going to report for work at 09:00hours what time will their juniors report? DC, this must change! The public should not wait for civil servants, no! Civil servants must be in the office on time and wait for people not the other way round!” she explained.
But later, while she was at Kapiri-Mposhi District Hospital, the district heads of departments pleaded with her to meet them saying it was obvious that there was miscommunication from the District Commissioner’s office because according to information communicated to them, they were supposed to meet with the Permanent Secretary at 09:00 hours.
Kapiri-Mposhi Acting District Education Boards Secretary, Njekwa Kamayoyo explained on behalf of his colleagues that according to the letter the time for the meeting was 09:00 hours and not 08:15 hours.
The Permanent Secretary then allowed the meeting to proceed but still emphasised on the need for civil servants to report for work on time.
“You see, I am not telling you something that I do not do myself. I always ensure that I am in the office at 07:00 hours so I can settle because I want to ensure that by 08:00 hours I start my work. So you should all ensure that you are in your various offices at 08:00hours,” she emphasized.
Mrs Mutale also urged the heads of departments to work as a team and build strong partnerships with the private sector in order to alleviate some of the challenges they face in their various departments.
Mrs Mutale emphasized on the need for civil servants to be punctual and adhere to government regulations.
ZANIS
Late coming and early knock off is normal in government. That is after you have taken a long lunch break. As long as your jacket is hanged on your chair, you are around.
This indeed needs to change. Good luck!!!
Lol! You know them well. Report for work at 10 go for lunch at 12 get back from lunch at 14 and knock off at 15.30. And that’s only from tuesday to thursday.
Iyee
She was only angered because they kept her waiting, who does not know the civil servants report late for work and knock-off early? They are a few committed ones but people nowadays work according to how they are paid. Pay them peanuts and you get monkeys.
I believe that the whole issue should not have ended with merely casting the heads of department for coming late to the meeting. The DC should have been disciplined since it is his responsibility to ensure that all his subordinates observe punctuality.
Zambians are never on time for anything. It speaks to the state of country.
“Zambians” – don’t generalise. I am Zambian and I am always on time.
It is not all Zambian who report late for work. Some are very punctual I have seen a couple of them in this country.
I once went to apply for a plot of advertised land as early as 6:00 hrs, found a long que too.The chap never showed up for work.We was only informed he went straight to the plots with the surveyor to divide out land.
From available information from the write up the DC did not communicate correctly.The DEBS indicated to the PS what time was communicated to them but was the DC there to counter the statement? Could the DC have failed to tell the PS the truth? It was okey though that ultimately the meeting went ahead.
I wish the new PS the best hoping that she will stay much longer to oversee the much needed development in Central Province.
Hey guys, lets not be hard on the civil servant. The new policy in the civil service is WORK AS YOU EARN. If I am being mistreated by superiors, no salary increment, no transport, why should I report early for work. WORK IS A HUMAN RIGHT and whether I report on time or not, I am still entitled to a job as a Zambian.
PF DIE HARD don’t support wrong doing with ridiculous ‘policies’. Does your so called ‘policy’ appear in their contracts ? or didn’t they know how much they were going to be earning when they joined the civil service? There are many zambians roaming the streets who would die to do those jobs.
Hang a jacket behind your chair go for 7hrs and leave the song ‘Goodbye Mr Kupe playing!!
Kikikikikikiki wandepula @goodbye mr kupe. I have a collègue who behaves like that. Him reports at 7 Just coz He takes his kids yo school and He wud fait up to 9 and disappears living his car packt at the offices and Will only reappear at 16hrs
That was just hot air coming from the PS. First, govt must get to the root of the problem. Why is the civil service innefficient? There are a number of reasons and I think they are not difficult to establish. You cant just start breathing fire on the symptoms; get the causes and eliminate the problem once and for all. Ba PS stop playing to the gallary; you already know why civil servants work the way they do. Something has to be done and so far, no government has been carageuos enough to deal with this problem once and for all. They all just talk like what the PS is doing and thereafter let the sleeping dogs lie.
@Questionner
I still think she was right to address the issue. I think it’s more a cultural thing, not an indication that workers are not treated right.
Even in social occasions, ask a Zambian to meet you at 3pm they think nothing of showing up later than 3. Neither will they communicate to you that they are unable to meet at the appointed time and offer an alternative.
It’s our laid back culture translating to the office culture. It should be curbed by all who manage staff.
Since independence this is the culture. During MMD it became even worse as the corruption reached the climax. Surely we were heading towards Zaire under late Mabuto.what still surprise me is that we have millions of Zambians exposed to the working culture of the developed world. When people go back to Zambia after training or courses and want to implement effective working culture they are called names and labelled he/she is treating us like colonial masters. This individual may not even last long either sacked by the govt or dead in unexplained circumstance.it will take time for many Zambians to learn that to develop Zambia its not just the govt but what each and every individual contributes whether in small or large in the personal capacity. This will be larger than the total sum.
If they reported on time, 0800hrs they would have easily noticed that the PS had arrived earlier than scheduled for the meeting. The truth is that they had put aside their office work for that whole day and were only going to attend the meeting. Dr Msiska has a tough job ahead. He will soon realise that the negtive attitude towards work has little 2 do with quantum of salary and conditions of service. Only way is 2 reduce job security which makes them feel untouchable. I propose that Dr Msiska convenes a symposium at govt complex for all heads of depts and invite Heads of Depts from Canada, UK, Botswana, Rwanda, New Zealnd/Australia, Germany to share why their civil services are high performers. Thereafter set the standards you want and put in a robust monitoring system.
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