OPC under scrutiny over recruitment

The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) recruitment drive has seen over 500 outsiders offered contracts in the civil service from last June to date and in some cases ignoring laid out procedures.

The Civil Service Commission (CSC), mandated to recruit employees from grade K to F, is only copied letters of appointments for their own record.

Our findings, based on review of official communications and collaborated interviews with senior government officials, show that since last year to date OPC has hired over 500 on contract across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs.

Among the privileged few are messengers, drivers, accounts assistants and forestry officers.

According to public service regulations for grades K to F (chief), the Civil Service Commission is the recruiting authority.

For grades L to M, the commission delegates such powers to MDAs’ appointments and disciplinary committees and to controlling officers for positions below M to R.

But in these recruitments, according to appointment letters we have seen, the appointing authority has been OPC through DHMRD. The letters are signed by an officer for PS DHRMD which our sources, who are senior officials, say is quite irregular and unlawful.

“I write to inform you that it has pleased Government to appoint you on a three (3) year contract as Accounts Assistant (Grade M) under Zomba National Audit Office with effect from the day you assume the duties of the post” reads a letter signed by P.M. Cheyo for Secretary for Human Resource Management and Development. All the letters are written in the same way and signed by the same person save for difference in grade and post.

Another one reads: “I write to inform you that it has pleased Government to appoint you on a three (3) year contract as Forestry Officer (Grade I) under Kasungu District Office with effect from the day you assume the duties of the post”.

DHRMD and OPC spokespersons Kennie Ntonga and Robert Kalindiza, respectively, are yet to respond to our questionnaires submitted over two months ago.

But a senior government official familiar with matters of recruitment described this as irregular and usurpation of functions from the Civil Service Commission.

“OPC is not supposed to be a recruiting authority for grades from F and below. It’s strange more so on contract? Contracts are usually a reserve of personnel with very special skills and not just anyone. But this is a syndicate to avoid the normal process which would involve adverts, shortlisting and interviews through the Commission,” the source stated.

In a written response, Principal Secretary for the Civil Service Commission Ireen Chikapa confirmed that that the commission is not involved but is merely given copies of the letters for records.

Said Chikapa: “I am aware of the recruitments, but those are contract appointments of three years. As Civil Service Commission, we are only given a copy of the appointment letters for our records only. For your information, the Civil Service Commission is still implementing its mandate i.e. appointing persons to hold/act in office in Civil Service through competitive interviews and aptitude tests”.

Chikapa further stressed that CSC continues to receive submissions for appointments for grades K to F and delegates Appointments and Disciplinary Committees for grades below K.

From letters we have seen, this recruitment has targeted all MDAs notably OPC, Ministries of gender, local government, Information, Health, Agriculture, Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma), National Registration Bureau (NRB), National Statistical Office and local councils.

Sources in government say recruiting politically connected individuals into the public service, on contract, has been a longstanding practice across regimes, especially for positions above K (directors and PSs), but the current one is happening “with scaring intensity”.

Said a PS whose ministry is also targeted with this new wave of appointments: “Usually the politically connected recruitment happens for positions such as directors and above. These are political appointments. But now we are seeing a strange practice where OPC is recruiting even the lowergrades such as drivers, messengers, plumbers.”

Our analysis shows that these appointments on contract defeat the spirit of the Public Service Act which calls for fair and open competition.

Section 4 of the Act reads: “Entry into and advancement within the public service shall be determined solely on the basis of merit, namely, relative ability, knowledge, skill and aptitude after fair and open competition which assures that all citizens receive equal opportunity”.

In the current scenario, people are appointed without any competition and it is not known how they are identified.

While the Malawi Public Service Regulations provide hiring on contract – there is emphasis that this should only be done in the public interest and to promote efficiency and that the candidate should have special skills outside what is available in the service.

The lack of transparency in the manner the recruitment is done has led to speculation of favouritism and nepositm among controlling officers in the civil service but we have not independently verified these claims.

Section 7 of the Public Service Act states: “All public officers shall be treated fairly and equally in all aspects of human resources management and development without regard to their political, tribal or religious affiliations or to their sex, age or origin in Malawi”.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman has been investigating the matter and wrote OPC demanding answers on allegations of irregular recruitment.

In an interview, Ombudsman Grace Malera confirmed that she has written at least a number of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), where the new recruited officers were posted, to provide information on how and what procedures were used in the hiring of staff. Malera stated that the complaint came as a referral from the Anti–Corruption Bureau (ACB) and that after assessment; her office approved it as a matter that should be pursued.