Stop acting in wrong jobs

Think of the chaos of seeing an ordinary guard performing a police officer’s duty, all because we settle for less, not the best or nothing.

Although the uniformed guard may be in the same security sector as a police officer, they are not equally trained.

In no way should an ordinary security guard assume the responsibility of a police officer in his absence.

This is the normalisation of mediocrity that has ravaged most government and private institutions in new Malawi.

Unqualified minds are swiftly recruited to attain positions for which they are not eligible.

Others spend years  in acting positions, turning fully deserving officers into rejects and mental wrecks.

Malawi needs to take dramatic steps to right the wrongs in line with the times we are living in.

We have a qualified workforce out there that can turn the tables around, but it is ironic that many government sectors are headed by pronoun officers.

The obvious question is: What criterion is employed or the reason behind the favoured mediocrity in acting positions?

It makes me dumbfounded for an agribusiness officer to head the agricultural extension department while deserving officers wander and rot without any job to do.

Why should business administrators be a technician in charge of an engineering department? Partial attendance at an engineering workshop will in no way make the business administrator a top-notch engineer.

This partly explains why Malawi is lagging behind in global development goals.

The country has perfected the art of snubbing freshly trained technocrats in trades authorised and sponsored by the government.

It is embarrassing that the government is silently shift-tasking officers in many departments to discharge duties they are neither capable of nor trained to handle.

Vital sectors need no on-the-job-trained officers to take the lead.

If the national work plan is youth inclusive, then it raises eyebrows to see the old guard being recommissioned to take posts befitting fresh minds.

Much as experience is a great teacher, we cannot cling to retired citizens and generalists when young graduates in relevant fields are not offered the opportunity to gather their experience. 

This requires a bold shift in the way the government conducts its business so that employees are offered jobs befitting them.

Government should review all figureheads in acting positions and properly reallocate them to departments in line with their expertise or and replace misfits with qualified recruits.

The country needs qualified and practical actors to develop.

Employment should be based on merit and deliverables, not merely certificates obtained or ill-thought rewards.

In fact, it would be a great move to put all civil servants on short-term contracts renewable based on performance.

If all public servants were subjected to unbiased performance evaluations every five years, no one would be dozing on duty.

Duty bearers would be so proactive and even refuse positions that do not align well to their expertise and qualifications.

Only serious reforms in the way government allocates positions in  the civil service will transform this country.

Changing political parties and leaders may not.

Let the Executive branch of government rise to the occasion and control the sector it owns.

We will stunt progress if we remain indifferent to non-performing civil servants both in acting attire or substantive positions.

Conserve no forest for sacred cows. There should be nowhere to hide even for long-serving civil servants in wrong jobs.

This country needs players with requisite understanding and skills for their position.

Availability does not make a goalkeeper take a striking position on a football pitch, but the skills and what he does with the ball.

All government ministries, departments and agencies need sanitising. No one should act in a position they don’t qualify for when eligible minds are loafing..