Sat, 17 Feb 2018 10:50:30 +0000
By KALOBWE BWALYA
I AM happy to serve in this new portfolio and in which ever capacity I will be asked to serve by President Edgar, I will obey, says Minister of Works and Supply Felix Mutati.
Mr Mutati said the reshuffle by the President should be taken as a performance enhancement booster and it should enable the public service to focus on pulling together, promoting collective responsibility, and augmenting the passion needed to effectively implement government programmes.
Speaking during a farewell meeting with senior management officials at the Ministry of Finance yesterday, Mr Mutati said he was not leaving, but just moving next door.
Mr Mutati, who until Wednesday was Minister of Finance said as Minister of Works and Supply, he would still be sitting in Cabinet and making contributions to policy and legal reforms which the Government would be formulating and implementing to better the well-being of the nation.
“In my new ministry, we will pump in the performance oxygen so that together with other ministries the works and supply portfolio could effectively contribute to expenditure rationalisation by reducing the cost of running the government motor vehicle fleet and cost-effectively maintaining government properties.
“I go to Works and Supply as a happy man, I am not leaving, but just moving next door where our vision will be to help shift public sector expenditure from consumption to development and poverty reduction programmes,” said Mr Mutati.
He encouraged the management and staff in the ministry to unreservedly support the new Minister of Finance Margret Mwanakatwe by developing an implementation plan that would contribute to the promotion of ethical conduct, integrity, and accountability in the public service in line with the measures announced by President Edgar Lungu.
“All Ministries are integral parts of the government delivery system, so the issue of Ministry of Works and Supply being smaller than Finance does not arise as we all have different but important mandates required in unison to facilitate collective contribution to the Vision 2030 and the Seventh National Development Plan,” said Mr. Mutati.
Meanwhile newly appointed Permanent Secretary for Budget and Economic Affairs Dr Emmanuel Mulenga Pamu, said he was aware of the turbulences facing the economy, having worked closely with the ministry during the time he served as director of Financial Markets at the Bank of Zambia.
“With the support of all of you, I will put in my best to contribute to the performance improvement of the economy through fiscal consolidation measures and improving the interface between the planning, fiscal, and monetary aspects of the budget,” said Dr Pamu.
And out-going permanent secretary Pamela Kabamba said the economic reform momentum that had been injected by President Lungu should continue.
