LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE COMMISSION AUDIT REVEAL 41 GHOST SENIOR MANAGEMENT WORKERS AT THE LUSAKA CITY COUNCIL.
LUSAKA – JULY 23, 2022
LOCAL Government Service Commission chairperson Ackson Sejani says there are 731 Lusaka City Council employees who were irregularly employed.
Updating journalists on the staff audit conducted at the Lusaka City Council earlier this year, Mr Sejani said the council, in total, employs 1, 224 people in division one to three categories out of which 331 were illegally employed while 400 have either wrong academic qualifications or facing disciplinary charges.
Mr Sejani said there were 53 audited officers who did not have full Grade 12 certificates with 46 of them in middle and senior management positons.
According to Mr Sejani, of the 731 council officers who are not in good standing with the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC), 300 division three officers were illegally employed as cashiers and revenue collectors.
“The recruitment of division one to three officers in our councils is the responsibility of the Commission. However, in Lusaka, over 300 cashiers and revenue collectors were engaged through the backdoor,” Mr Sejani said.
“The council uses division four general workers as cashiers and revenue collectors. This seriously undermines the work of the Commission.”
He said over 100 employees at Lusaka City Council have not been confirmed far beyond the stipulated period of probation with some going for more than 17 years when the legal probation period is three to six months.
He added that 46 members of staff at the council are on study leave and that 40 of those did so without the authority of the LGSC while 18 members of staff are on suspension for various offences.
Mr Sejani disclosed that a staff audit also revealed that there are 20 vacant positions and that those positions would be filled up, in due course, through an advert by the LGSC.
He further said the LGSC toured selected markets in Lusaka city where they found “the real rot of bloated labour forces and discovered workers who are paid monthly salaries despite their contracts having expired many years ago.
“The large body of general workers who are irregularly and illegally engaged as cashiers and revenue collectors are seriously ill-qualified to do this job for which they were not trained. They lack the know-how as well as the ethics necessary for their jobs. There is also a large number of general workers who are unpaid for up to 17 months but getting pay-slips every month,” Mr Sejani explained, adding that local authorities around the country need to be cleaned up.
“This state of affairs is largely responsible for the massive revenue leakages dogging the Lusaka City Council. Many councils sit on gold, if financial loopholes are sealed. Councils are crying out because there is leakage of revenue and there is need to digitalise revenue collection.”
Mr Sejani disclosed that if one added division four workers (general workers), the Lusaka City Council has over 4, 000 employees.
On the way forward, regarding the highlighted findings at the Lusaka City Council, Mr Sejani said employees who are holding inadequate Grade 12 certificates must immediately upgrade themselves or face removal from their positions.
“This country must take qualifications very seriously. The Zambia Qualifications Authority and the Examinations Council of Zambia must be part of the escalation of the audit. Many of the qualifications being waved before our eyes need serious authentication. This goes for both locally and foreign obtained qualifications,” said Mr Sejani.