Reintroduction of deputy ministers is centered on personal compensation

Former State House spokesperson George Chella the idea of returning deputy ministers into government is inspired by a purely self-interested mindset and that it is politics of loyalty and compensation at play.

Chellah, who served under 5th President Michael Sata, says Zambia urgently requires technocratic capacity in government by deliberately investing in capacity building and educational schemes for its civil service more than deputy ministers.

Chellah was reacting to the controversial proposal by the National Dialogue Forum that the position of deputy minister must be reintroduced.

Chellah notes that the issue of deputy ministers is centered on personal gain by those advocating for it.

“No doubt, the idea of returning deputy ministers into government is inspired by a purely self-interested mindset – its politics of loyalty and compensation at play. Nonetheless, as Francis Fukuyama observed in his book ‘Political Order and Political Decay’ our leaders who are insistently pursuing this undertaking must realize that …agents can be loyal and motivated to do the right thing and yet fail because they simply do not have the knowledge, competence, or technical ability to carry out the principal’s wishes”, he said.

“In to escape modern economic, political and social nightmares, Zambia requires sophisticated and reliable technocratic capacity in its public administration system and not a bloated executive arm of government. The notion that this country needs deputy ministers to enhance administrative capacity and delivery is self-serving and superfluous, and flies right in the face of the principle of cost cutting, which is highly recommended for a country with a not so impressive balance sheet as ours”.

Chellah also says leaders ought to understand that the effectiveness and administrative capacity of modern governments does not depend on the size and weight of the political arm but technocratic ability through the establishment and sustenance of a merit-based civil service particularly that the present world order is such that many state activities and functions demand for top-notch professionalism in order to attain incredible milestones.

“Of course, the executive is important and responsible for all government policies and daily administration of state affairs but having a bloated one will not yield anything for the country in comparison to stuffing the bureaucracy or civil service with plenty specialized and exceptional hands. A lean executive can still achieve the unimaginable if paired with a highly technocratic and dependable civil service. With less than 20 cabinet ministers, Singapore, a global financial centre with a GDP of over US$ 450 million and a population 5 million as at 2018 validates my standpoint – big is not always better” he said

“For this reason, I submit that Zambia today, urgently requires technocratic capacity in government by deliberately investing in capacity building and educational schemes for its civil service more than deputy ministers. We should not forget that the real performance of any government globally heavily relies on organizational structure and human capital development. In this regard, state capacity is dependent on reliable technocratic competence and not the number of ministers on hand.”