Government says it is in a process of launching and implementing the code of ethics for public service workers aimed at improving their service delivery to the public.

Secretary to the cabinet, Joshua Kanganja, says the code of ethics will create a public service that will enhence values and provide guidelines on the standards of accountable behavior required for public service employees.

Speaking when he officially launched the Payroll Management and Establishment Control (PMEC) Luapula Office in Mansa today, Dr Kanganja said there is need for public service workers to be responsible and accountable to the public in the way they execute their duties.

Dr Kanganja noted that this is because civil servants have an important role to play in the development process of the country through quality service delivery.

He added that with total commitment, public service employees could assist government in achieving the set targets of developmental goals such as the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) and the Vision 2030.

He explained that the realization of the set developmental goals will require efficient and effective public service participation, hence the need for workers to be proactive.

“You should be aware that the vision for our country to become a middle class income status by the year 2030 demands purposeful, efficient and effective action on the part of the public service”, he Said.

Dr Kanganja further pointed out that there is also need for workers to adopt a positive mind set and apply themselves to the different tasks that they are expected to do in a transparent and accountable manner.

“As public workers there is need for a major paradigm shift in the manner you conduct yourselves, as employees, institutions engage in culture of excellence, accountability and transparency in your service delivery”, he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Kanganja said it is for this reason that government will also use the PMEC system to establish a sustainable process and systems that will ensure effective monitoring of the government employment act.

He further expressed optimism that the establishment of the PMEC office in the province will go a long way in the enhancement of accountability and ownership in the execution and administration of the payroll system in the area.

Earlier, Public Service Management Division (PSMD) Permanent Secretary, George Kawatu, said the establishment of the PMEC payroll system in all provincial centers will help government reduce costs of sending financial officers to Lusaka to retire their input.

Mr Kawatu also disclosed that this is because about 140,000 government workers are on the PMEC database, adding that the system will assist in addressing some of the challenges that government faced in the establishment of an effective payroll management.

“The opening of provincial centers without external consultants means that the money is saved and is being redirected to other needy areas in the country, “he said.

And Luapula Province Permanent Secretary, Jazzman Chikwakwa, thanked government for opening PMEC offices in the province, adding that the move will contribute positively to the development of the area through an improved payroll management system.

ZANIS

President Rupia Banda says he is sadned to note that after 50 years of existence, Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation (MEF) still depends on donors and other corporating partners for support.

And Mindolo Ecumincal Foundation has disclosed that it owes the Kitwe City Council over K430 million in land rates.

President Banda said organisations like MEF required massive injection of funds for programmes, infrastructural development and maintaince in order to depend less on donors.

He said there was urgent need for management at Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation in Kitwe to move with the times and embrace the changes that are happening politcally, socially and economically if the institution was to remain viable.

The President said this in Kitwe today in a speech read on his behalf by Education Ministrer, Dora Siliya, at the joint 51st Pan African graduation ceremony and golden jubilee celebrations.

He added that while it was good for the institution to look back at the past accomplishment, MEF could not afford to remain stuck in history and fail to utilise the historical achievements for the betterment of the future.

He said government was in a hurry to develop the country and would continue creating an enabling environment for players in the tertially education sector like MEF to smoothly implement there programmes.

Mr Banda said Mindolo, in the spirit of ecumenicalism, should bring together various stakeholders to a table and determine the future for this country, including addressing the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment through its programmes.

He added that government was proud to be associated with MEF because the organisation has made significant contribution to the development of Africa for the last 50 by managing to bring together people of difference races, nationalities and religions through the courses it offers.

The President further said the currently 50 per cent of the Zambian population were women and that the programme of gender and good governance being implemented by the institution was critical to national development.

He observed that there was need for MEF not to confine such programmes but to spread them to the entire country, especially rural areas.

The President urged the the graduants to take the first step in developing Africa using the necessary skills acquired from MEF.

He added that they were the greatest human resource that Africa had produced and that no one would develop Africa except for them.

And MEF Board Chairperson, Reverand Susanna Matale, said the organisation, which had trained several African leaders, was going through enormous administrative and operational problems.

Rev Matale said the institution was chocked by land rates of over K430 million that were being asked for by the Kitwe City Council.

She said the institution had failed to clear this bill, a situation which had forced the local authority to grab property from the institution.

She appealed to the President to squash the current debt and abolish all land rates being imposed on the MEF by the council.

Rev Matale also called on church leaders to slow down on divisions and concentrate on issues that would build the nation.

He urged management at MEF to soldier on to ensure that the institution pulled through its problems.

Earlier MEF Director, Rev Peter Daka, said the student intake at the institution had dropped from the previous 150 to 31 due to a decline in donor support.

Rev Daka appealed to government to give the institution necessary support by sending civil servants to undertake refresher courses at the institution.

ZANIS

Expelled United Party for National Development (UPND) Namwala Member of Parliament Robbie Chizyuka says he does not recognise his expulsion from his party for alleged gross indiscipline.

Major Chizyuka said in a statement to ZANIS last evening that the action by UPND national executive committee to expel him is in defiance of the court injunction in the Lusaka High court.

” Mr Hakainde Hichilema is aware that on 21st November, 2009 Lusaka high court judge Musonda will hear my application for an
injunction to restrain the UPND and Mr. Hichilema from suspending me, ” said Major Chizyuka.

He explained that Mr Hichilema’s defiant action against the injunction, it was time Zambians looked closely and wisely into the
mirror image of Mr. Hichilema whom he labeled as a ” new dictator.”[quote]

With reference to UPND’s allegation that he failed to exculpate himself, within the seven days period, Major Chizyuka said to-date he has not received the suspension letter which stipulated the charges requiring his response.

The embattled MP urged UPND to be honest to the public to show when he received that the expulsion letter, who gave him the letter and where he signed for receipt.

He said as far he was concerned, he was just learning it in the media on Sunday 4th October, 2009.

” I was in my constituency attending the Shimunenga ceremony when this entire saga was unfolding as news.
Upon reading my suspension in the Post Newspaper, and realizing that I was not given a hearing let alone a warning on the alleged misconduct, I realized that the party was up to some hidden, malicious and already predetermined actions against me,” he said.

Furthermore, Major Chizyuka has challenged the expulsion saying he cannot exculpate himself before the injunction is cleared in court.

ZANIS