Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are now frustrated – Fr. Bwalya

opposition Alliance for Better Zambian Fr. Frank Bwalya says many Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are now frustrated with the way President Michael Sata is making reshuffles.

In a press statement released to Zambian Eye on Monday, March 17, 2014, Fr. Bwalya who worked closely with PF before forming his own party cited the recent reshuffles which he said lack common sense and strategy in the management of government.

Below is Fr. Bwalya’s statement in full:

ALLIANCE FOR BETTER ZAMBIA
March 17, 2014.
Statement

Many ministers and permanent secretaries are very frustrated because of the erratic and disruptive manner in which President Michael Sata has been making reshuffles. The reshuffles, including the recent one, lack common sense and strategy in the management of government.
It has become a habit to move ministers and permanent secretaries in a manner that defies reason. And it seems that President Sata moves ministers around just to demonstrate his power to do so. Hence, permanent secretaries under PF should be called nomadic secretaries because they are always on the move. PF ministers should also be called ceremonial officials.
The reshuffles also show that Mr Sata doesn’t value stability in government ministries. Ministers are moved away from a ministry even before they acclimatize. And some ministers are moved away from ministries where they are better suited given their aptitude and competence. For instance one would think that Mr Mwansa Kapeya was better suited at ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services than Dr Joseph Katema. It is clear that Mr Kapeya’s aptitude and experience in the field of broadcasting made him better placed as minister of Information and Broadcasting Services. Moreover, in terms of articulating issues he is better than the shy Dr Katema whose field is health.
In the case of Robert Sichinga, the ministry of Commerce and Industry was the right one for him but he was moved to agriculture and now back to commence and industry. Given the failure of the PF government in managing the agriculture sector and specifically the failure to deliver fertilizer and other farming inputs, we expected that Mr Sichinga would be left at agriculture and correct the situation in readiness for the next farming season. Alas, he has been moved again. Except for a few untouchables, all PF ministers have been moved back and forth like pieces of furniture.

Against this background, Zambians should not expect any meaningful development and sound policy direction from PF. We are convinced that now it is not a question of teething problems why PF is making silly mistakes, it is their way of operating – they take pride in confusion and instability.
Regarding the firing of home affairs deputy minister Alfrida Kansembe, the reason is that she refused to join the bandwagon of those demonizing former defence minister Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba popularly known as GBM. Mr Sata expected her to show loyalty by insulting her brother-in-law GBM. But as a mature person, he refused to do it and opted to just do her work and effectively represent the people who voted her. This angered Mr Sata who has now managed to instil fear in almost all ministers and PF members of parliament. As we have seen, ministers are so fearful that even when they are insulted as fools or idiots they just respond by saying “yes sir”.

Fr Frank Bwalya
ABZ PRESIDENT