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Mixed views on civil servants vying for political positions

As the momentum to the 2019 polls builds, there is divided opinion on civil servants who have publicly shown interest to contest for political office with some commentators calling for their immediate resignation or suspension.

The discussion follows social media posts which show chief director responsible for Safe Motherhood in the Ministry of Health Chimwemwe Chipungu as contesting for the position of national organising secretary at the forthcoming convention for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Sibande: Do it outside civil service

In a telephone interview with Nation on Sunday yesterday Chipungu distanced himself from the post circulating in social media, saying it was the making of people who want him to contest but was elusive when asked if he intends to contest for the said position at the forthcoming DPP convention.

“I am hearing it from you. You rightly said I am a civil servant so how does it work that way? I was national organising secretary then before I joined the civil service by a contractual agreement. What I mean by a contractual agreement is that I can terminate it tomorrow and contest if I want to,” he said.

Pressed further if he desires to contest Chipungu added: “As we are talking [yesterday] I have not made that decision, but I am not saying I can’t. If I will, I will communicate”.

The code of ethics for public service as well as public service regulations stress on the need for public servants to maintain political neutrality rather prohibits participation in active politics.

In 2013, the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) issued a circular which asked civil servants who contemplated running for political office to resign.

Section 193 of the Constitution reads in part: “Members of the Civil Service shall ensure that the exercise of participation in political activities does not compromise their independent exercise of their functions, powers and duties as impartial servants of the general public. The National Assembly may prescribe a category of civil servants, who by reason of their seniority shall not be able to directly participate in political activities provided that the civil servants so restricted shall have the right to resign in order to participate directly in political activities.”

But private-practising lawyer Justin Dzonzi does not think the quoted Section of the constitution prohibits civil servants from participating in politics, arguing that so long as such participation does not compromise their function.

“My personal view is that the Constitution already allows them to participate. So the circular you referred to is illegal as it is contrary to the express provisions of the constitution,” argued Dzonzi.

However Human Rights Lawyer Chrispin Sibande observed that the aim of the Constitution is to have a civil service which functions in a professional manner without political consideration. He contends that anyone in the civil service who participates or shows political colours has contravened the law.

“The spirit of the Constitution of Malawi is that people holding public offices are independent and impartial. In this way, they can perform their duties professionally, formulate policies independently based on correct set of facts and evidence and give professional advice to political offices of president and ministers based on professional principles and facts. The standard is even higher for senior civil servants.

“The point is not to prevent civil servants from doing political activities. They can do that outside the Civil Service” he said.

Commenting on the matter, political scientist Nandini Patel agreed with Sibande that Civil Servants must not engage in politics to protect public interest.

Patel said even merely showing intention to participate or run for political office should call for disciplinary measure.

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