No PF Minister To Serve in Our Government - HH

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has said no ministers serving in the current PF administration will retained if his party forms a government next year. 

“We will not adopt any minister from the current PF government to serve in the role of minister,” the opposition leader said. 

Mr Hichilema said there were “various factors” that would inform his party’s choice of ministers and that the public would be informed of this in due course.

He added that, should his party win elections next August, he would instruct the Public Service Management Division to conduct an audit of the civil service, to ensure the UPND government is staffed solely by competent and qualified people and erasing the corrupt phenomenon of ‘ghost workers’.

HH said it is no secret that the civil service is currently riddled with highly incompetent PF cadres, but that those qualified would remain in place regardless of political affiliation. 

“It is also not a secret that the civil service is not a reflection of the diversity of our country. It must be balanced by various tribes, youth, gender & other groups. We won’t fire anyone for political reasons but rather, based on merit. Most good civil servants will stay, even though they were engaged through the PF,” he said. 

Mr Hichilema said there would likely be an overhaul of civil service directors and permanent private secretaries, with new appointments coming from both outside and within the service. 

He stressed the importance of hiring career professionals who have sound credentials and conform to the types of performance metrics used in the private sector. 

The UPND said its aim is to have a truly competent and effective government that delivers on the people’s aspirations.