By SIMON MUNTEMBA
IT is hypocrisy of the highest order for President Hakainde Hichilema to appoint paid-up UPND members when he promised that he would remove cadres from the civil service, the Patriotic Front (PF) has said
PF deputy media director, Edwin Lifwekelo said the party was shocked that instead of depoliticising the public service by removing perceived PF cadres and replacing them with qualified professionals, the President appointed known UPND cadres.
Mr Lifwekelo said in an interview the backsliding of the ruling party on a number of promises, among them the appointment of senior government officials was disappointing.
“It is disappointing that most of the people President Hichilema has appointed as permanent secretaries, deputy permanent secretaries and district commissioners are paid-up UPND members and officials. “This is contrary to the promise he made immediately after winning the August 12, 2021 elections that he would remove cadres from the civil service,” he said.
He claimed that the list of the new PSs and their deputies, as well as DCs was replete with known political cadres from the UPND’s structures.
“Many of them stood as candidates for parliamentary and local government elections on the UPND ticket and lost or held positions in various structures of the ruling party and its alliance partners.
“Mr Hichilema’s appointments are therefore not meant to staff the public service with qualified professionals but to reward UPND cadres and perpetuate political patronage,” Mr Lifwekelo said.
Mr Lifwekelo warned that the appointment of political cadres would breed nepotism, incompetence, intolerance and corruption as they shall not be accountable to the people who voted the UPND regime into power.
He also said that those who were appointed purely on the basis of political loyalty would fail to work professionally because they shall be seeking to appease their appointing authority and their political party.
