BRIEFING | Mwaliteta warns anti-Hichilema civil servants, ‘These five years will be difficult for you’
UPND Kafue West Member of Parliament Obvious Mwaliteta has warned civil servants who openly opposed President Hakainde Hichilema during the August 13 election, saying public officers working against the administration should not expect to remain comfortably within government.
Mwaliteta says his team has begun compiling names of civil servants who allegedly celebrated when opposition presidential candidate Brian Mundubile claimed an early victory as election results were still being processed. He argued that such conduct exposed the political loyalties of some public officers, particularly in Kafue.
“We can’t have civil servants who are going to frustrate the efforts of government. Today I want to tell you, these five years will be difficult for you,” Mwaliteta said.
He further argued that public officers cannot “serve two masters”, saying those opposed to Hichilema should not simultaneously work within his administration.
“There is no way you can work for Hakainde’s government when you don’t want Hakainde himself. There’s no way you’re going to be a police officer in Kafue when you are against the government,” he said.
The remarks raise a wider question over the distinction between political neutrality in the public service and personal political preference. Zambia’s civil service serves the government of the day but is not, by that fact, a membership structure of the governing party.
Public officers are expected to discharge their duties professionally and impartially, regardless of their private electoral choices.
Mwaliteta’s warning will therefore draw scrutiny over what he means by “working against” government and the compilation of names. Frustrating lawful government programmes through official duties is a disciplinary matter.
Voting against the governing party, or privately holding a different political preference, is a different matter. The distinction is important in a professional public service designed to continue functioning when governments change.
-The People’s Brief | Chileshe Sengwe