BY MULENGA MUSONDA
Secrecy facilitating nepotism in job recruitments in Southern Province has been condemned.
Southern Province Minister Dr Edify Hamukale said it was wrong that job vacancies were not being declared publicly instead offered to relatives.
He condemned the provincial administration at the ‘Epidemic Preparedness Meeting’ in Choma.
Dr Hamukale said the Provincial HR Department has been personalised like a personal company with nepotism taking centre stage in the recruitment process.
“Job vacancies are kept secret, they are simply listing down names of people and when there is a vacancy, employ this one. Who told you? It’s not a personal Company, this is government, it’s a Company for all Zambians,” the minister fumed.
“And this behaviour has been going on now for sometime, when they see a vacancy then they start calling ‘hello, ulikuuli? Ndili kuu Kitwe, hambaana kuli nchiito kuuno (hello, where are you? I am in Kitwe, quickly come there is a job here), you don’t do that! We have a lot of youths who need jobs, why are you calling people from Kitwe and from wherever? and these are the people from the same family,” Dr Hamukale said.
The Provincial Minister said he receives a lot of job applications coming from vulnerable people in society who if helped can change the well being of their families but cannot because vacancies have been personalized and are kept top secret by people who are supposed to be sharing and advertising the opportunities.
The Minister who seemed enraged spoke incessantly and condemned the blind eye that the HR Department pays towards known civil servants who are known for absenteeism and being drunkards and called for their disciplining.
“We have had no disciplinary committee meeting for a longtime, no wonder there is so much indiscipline in some areas. I have two fellows that I want to discipline, take this to PS, there is this fellow Likando from Livingstone he’s a drunk, a terrible drunk…..there is another one Kaunda Mubanga from Choma, absenteeism totally absent at will, they can go wherever they want and expect a government salary at the end, do they know how many youths want jobs out there?” he said.
The Minister also wondered why the Education Provincial Administration office kept on employing dull people who were embarrassingly sent back by Central Statistics Office for failing to perform when the province has a pool of intelligent people.
“IAm surprised for short term jobs, why are you employing very dull children? Dull! dull! dull! they’re are dull, privileged, lucky and nobody can touch them even if they go for work, when Southern Province produces the best boys and girls,” the Minister said
He went on to warn all Heads of Department to stop recommending or promoting greedy people with questionable characters.
“To you HoDs I said this in Mazabuka, why are you promoting people that you know are greedy, selfish, corrupt and you know he’s corrupt actually then the staff appraisal paper comes – hardworking, you recommend that person for promotion……you have this fellow who is greedy, all he does is reporting friends, jostling for promotions all over, we can’t go on like that,” he said.
