By Kondanani Chilimunthaka
President Lazarus Chakwera has advised Principal Secretaries from various government MDAs to ensure that the government system is being run smoothly.
He was speaking during an interface meeting he had with PSs from government departments at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Tuesday, June 14,2022.
Describing the government system as broken, President Chakwera said; “The reason I had my Secretary assemble you last week in preparation for meeting me today is because the broken systems I want fixed are controlled by you, because as Principal Secretaries, you are the Controlling Officers of our Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
You are the ones who control the Civil Service, and the fact that the Civil Service is broken, and in urgent need of fixing means that the task of fixing it rests on you.”
He added that his task is to give these Controlling Officers direction on what they must focus on and to engage in a continuous evaluation on whether they have what it takes to fix the country’s broken system.
Further President Chakwera told the PSs that they will be meeting the Secretary to the Office of President and Cabinet monthly, with performance appraisals expected to be taking place quarterly.
“The first goal of these measures is to create synergy among you and increase the level of collaboration between you and my office, because ultimately, we must work for Malawians as one team.
The second goal is to ensure that we are on the same page regarding what exactly is broken in the Civil Service and what we must do as a matter of urgency to fix it.” Said the President.
He then told them that the directive is also aimed at ensuring that there is no MDA that is motivated by anything else other than excellent service to Malawi and its people.
Malawi leader has since pledged his total support for the Controlling Officers to make them succeed as a way of delivering the set goals.
