Chiefs tell off lying civil servants 

Mon, 20 Feb 2017 13:20:44 +0000

By CHARLES MUSONDA

 CIVIL servants who are in the habit of telling lies to President Lungu on the status of development projects especially in rural areas should stop the practice, say two traditional rulers.

In separate interviews in Lusaka, Chiefs Chipepo and Kaputa said there was no need to tell lies to the Head of State because cheating always backfired.

Chief Chipepo said all civil servants, especially senior ones, must give the President a true and clear picture of what was obtaining on the ground because the Head of State could not be everywhere to inspect public service works.

“Our main concern as Zambians is the way the current civil service works. Ministers, permanent secretaries and directors are not open to the Head of State. What we have observed as outsiders who are watching on his behalf is that they are not frank,

“It is not good to tell lies to the President because he cannot manage to inspect all schools, all the hospitals and other government facilities. You go and tell him all is welland yet on the ground all is not well. That is deception and the spirit of deception among our civil servants is not good,” Chief Chipepo said. He said some civil servants had not stopped the trend of lazing around in the name of attending workshops and seminars using public funds at the expense of service delivery.

Chief Chipepo said President Lungu’s findings on the ground when he recently visited Luapula, Eastern, and North Western provinces must be a wakeup call to civil servants that lies always backfired.

And Chief Kaputa said President Lungu’s approach would put civil servants on their toes and ensure all annual plans were implemented

“Cheating in itself is not right and what are the benefits of cheating when all of us are looking for development? If we put all our efforts together we will be able to get where we want to be. We just need to tell him the truth as it is,” he said.