Govt cautioned on hiring public officers
Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa)-Malawi Chapter has faulted government for recruiting public officers without following proper procedures.
In a statement issued yesterday, Misa-Malawi chairperson Teresa Ndanga said it is a concern that government is failing to honour its commitment to follow laid down procedures in the recruitment of public officers.
She said: “We were surprised with the appointment of the new director of information [DOI] Mr Chikumbutso Mtumodzi when a vacancy was never advertised nor was there a competitive recruitment process.”
The Misa-Malawi chairperson added that it is surprising that at a time when Minister of Information Gospel Kazako said the Tonse Alliance administration is committed to ensuring all recruitment procedures are followed, the opposite is happening.
When government terminated contracts of former DOI Mzati Nkolokosa, his deputy Deogratias Mmana and chief director of public sector reforms Seodi White in September, Kazako said they were not recruited through normal procedures.
The minister is on record as having said the new administration wants to correct the mess of hiring public officers without following procedures as there are many in key government positions who are not well-qualified or were recruited in dubious ways.
When contacted yesterday, Kazako asked for more time to comment on the matter.
But in a separate interview, Ndanga said hiring of public officers without following procedures is unfortunate and a betrayal to Malawians.
She said the development raises fears that the practice may creep into other media institutions such as Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) that have been previously abused by governments.
Said Ndanga: “The Ministry of Information, MBC and Macra are statutory institutions with laid down recruitment procedures which government must follow.”
She said the press excel when there is no form of political interference even in the recruitment of public officers.
