154 Public Servants Set For Reinstatement As Part Of Civil Service Depoliticisation

Following President Hichilema’s pledge to depoliticise the civil service, 154 former public workers who were unfairly dismissed have been recommended for reinstatement.

Last November, the President called for all those former public servants who were retired in the national interest or were separated on unfair grounds to submit appeal letters for consideration.

Acting Secretary to Cabinet Patrick Kangwa revealed in a statement that the committee received appeals from appellants that cut across a broad spectrum of the civil service. In total, 2,126 appeals were received by the committee including 1,246 from the Mainstream Public Service, 167 from Local Authorities, and 713 from grant-aided institutions and statutory bodies.

1,868 cases were considered, 154 have been recommended for reinstatement whilst 40 cases are still under consideration. An independent committee comprising serving and former senior government officials was convened with the intention of offering those dismissed on political, tribal or unfair grounds a second opportunity.

Civil servants and public workers are often directly responsible for the smooth operation of the Government, providing key research, advice, and support to Government ministries in order to facilitate the proper functioning of public services.

The appeal process comes as part of Hichilema’s greater ambition to distance his administration from the corruption and embezzlement that brought down the former administration of the Patriotic Front. Last week it was revealed that $45 million of payroll embezzlement had been discovered by a government audit.  

As a key part of his election campaign, Hichilema remains publicly tied to efforts to clean up Government ministries in order to rebuild faith amongst the Zambian public towards those in political office.

Image: Michal Malton via Unsplash