UPND castigated for dragging Govt in misconduct of civil servants

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 10:08:23 +0000

IT IS irresponsibility of the highest order for the opposition UPND to blame the misconduct of civil servants on Government, says Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Elias Kamanga.

Mr Kamanga has since trashed comments insinuating that women under the Patriotic Front (PF) government were not genuinely being offered employment in the province.

He was reacting to UPND national youth chairperson Gilbert Liswaniso who said recent judgment from Chipulukusu local court which found a clerk  Jedi Chibwe from Copperbelt Cabinet office guilty of adultery, was testimony that women were being abused sexually for employment opportunities.

Mr Kamanga said his office had received the judgment whose contents were still being studied.

He said the controlling office was focusing on the allegations that the officer in question used his office to commit the offence.

He emphasised that the adultery issue was not part of what was being investigated but alleged abuse of office.

“Yes, the judgment involving our officer is in the public domain but what I want to put straight is that if a person breaches regulations that govern the Civil  Service, they will be dealt with appropriately.

“But it does not mean that Government will be made responsible for the misconduct of the civil servants or sanction misconduct. Why should individuals drag Government into the issue when it is an individual that committed the said offences?” he asked.

He assured the general public that Government would not tolerate misconduct on the part of civil servants and that culprits would be punished accordingly.

However, Mr. Kamanga failed to state if the officer in question has been suspended from work but insisted that procedure was strictly being followed.

On Friday, Chipulukusu local court found Chibwe guilty of committing adultery with a married woman and was fined K 15,000 to compensate the complainant Mr. Elias Ngwira.

Part of the testimony contained in the judgment records, the key witness Ms. Mwansa Mulenga Ngwira, told the court that she had sexual encounters with Chibwe from different localities which included Cabinet Office.