24 Jul 2018

Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Machana Shamukuni says government recognises the role of the public service in building the country’s economy.

Addressing Chobe public officers on July 23, Mr Shamukuni, who is also Member of Parliament for Chobe, said the public service had been critical in building the country’s economy from being poor at independence to becoming a middle income economy, hence the realisation of government to better working relationship between the two parties.

He cited that some of the ways that government demonstrated its commitment to improving  the working relationship was the recent meeting between the President and the union leaders and the envisaged revival of the Bargaining Council.

Earlier when presenting their welfare issues, Ministry of Basic Education staff member, Mr Lekolang Botumile expressed concern over lack of implementation of the transfer policy that had resulted in officers overstaying in the district.

Mr Botumile also decried shortage of classrooms at Kazungula Primary School, Chobe and Liswaani JSS that he said affected the quality of education in the district.

He further said students performed poorly in practical subjects such as Agriculture because their crops were destroyed by wild animals such as elephants and baboons.

Mr Botumile lamented that boarded vehicles in the district were never replaced and that the maintenance of vehicles was centralised at headquarters, a thing that he said led to the region experiencing acute shortage of vehicles.

He said each of the two junior secondary schools had one post of a cook, resulting in the kitchen hands forced to perform the duties of a cook.

He however suggested that a post of a senior cook should be introduced so that the kitchen hands become cooks.

The regional wildlife officer, Mr Mbututu Mbututu decried prolonged and odd working hours for staff, adding that some were forced to work 22 hours of overtime per week instead of the recommended 14 hours.

Mr Mbututu suggested that a 30 per cent commuted overtime or 26 working days instead of the 22 days should be introduced to curb instances where officers work overtime they were not remunerated for.

He cited that officers who refuse to be transferred to Chobe contributed to staff shortage, particularly at the park, citing that at Savuti there were currently only two officers.

He complained about shortage of staff, especially in the management positions.

Mr Mbututu decried shortage of staff accommodation.

He noted that the Department of Wildlife and National Parks scheme of service was outdated and needed to be reviewed.

Chobe District deputy council secretary, Mr Atamelang Bopadile complained that since the Chobe council was the last one to be upgraded to a district council in the country, some departments that were supposed to be headed at D1 scale are headed at D4, a situation he said had contributed to the institution having many cases with the Ombudsman.

He implored the authorities to come up with a strategy that could help retain staff in the district.

Mr Bopadile called for an allowance for care takers at Kachikau special unit as their work was not ordinary.

Ms Dorcus Radikatse decried the delay of payment of terminal benefits, especially for leave days when people retired from the public service, citing that in some instances payment for leave days took up to more than two months, a thing that she said impoverished the retirees.

In response, DPSM official, Mr Victor Manyanda said public officers who refuse transfers should be brought to book because their actions amount to insubordination.

He urged departments to fill vacant posts in order to avoid having their employees working prolonged hours.

On the review of the scheme of service, Mr Manyanda said the department should make a proposal to DPSM for a review of outdated scheme of service.

He observed that the delay in the payment of leave days reflected reluctance on the part of the human resource officers because their processing should start when one tendered a three- week notice to resign or retire.

On shortage of accommodation, Mr Shamukuni urged officers to view shortage of government accommodation as an opportunity to invest in building and renting houses.

He urged them to utilise the existing programmes to build houses and lease them to government. ENDS