Reinstate 41 Unfairly Retired Civil Servants – CSAWUZ
THE Civil Servant and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) has appealed to the new Government to reinstate about 41 Civil servants who were unfairly retired in national interest after the 2016 general elections and unfreeze over 5,000 job positions frozen in the civil service.
CSAWUZ president Davy Chiboye explained that the 41 civil servants were relieved of duties on suspicion of being sympathising with then opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) in the run-up to the general elections of that year.
Mr. Chiyobe told journalists in Lusaka yesterday the Labour movement was requesting the new administration to have the affected employees reinstated.
Newly installed Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said in Tuesday that the practice of retiring Government workers on national or on unfair grounds had ended and directed all public service workers who felt they had been relieved of their work on such grounds to prepare to return to work.
Mr. Chiyobe said reinstating the 41 civil servants would be a great relief because they have families that looked up to them for survival.
“We equally appreciate the President’s position that no civil servant will be retired unfairly in national interest as it were in 2016.This will promote and entail a professional and efficient public service that is competent, motivated, impartial and dedicated to serving the public interest,” Mr. Chiyobe said.
He said the union would contact the affected civil servants so that they can advance their qualifications to the relevant authorities for reinstation.
Mr. Chiyobe said the new regime should also consider unfreezing over 5,000 job positions in the civil servants in order to create the much needed employment opportunities for the youth.
He said youth unemployment had a negative effect on the economy hence the need to prioritise job creation and further solicit for funds to finance those positions that would be unfrozen.
Mr. Chiyobe said he was however happy that new Government had assured that there will be no retribution in the aftermath of the August 12 general election.
He also commended the President’s commitment to ensure that Government institutions run autonomously without any political interference which had made many of them to be perceived irrelevant and loose public confidence.
Mr. Chiyobe said the Drug Enforcement Commission, Zambia Police Service and the Anti-Corruption Commission should operate competently without political interference and that he was further expecting the UPND Government to boldly fight corruption with a blind eye without leaving any stone unturned.
And Mr. Chiyobe appreciated the new government’s open arms approach to rebuild the economy stating that vigorously reviving the Zambian economy would equally entail a decent life for all Zambians.
He was of firm belief that once the economy was resuscitated, it will benefit all citizens especially that youths are unemployed and would promote innovative entrepreneurs in all sectors of the economy.
And Mr. Makai, CSAWUZ general secretary said the new Government should not abandon the implementation of the debt swap that was initiated by the previous regime in a bid to improve the economic livelihoods of civil servants in the country.
Mr. Makai said the union would like to see the full implementation of the debt swap initiative by the new regime as it was beneficial to civil servants who were highly indebted.
“Do not throw away the debt swap initiative just because it was initiated by the previous regime, what we want to see from the new regime is the completion of the process because it is highly beneficial to civil servants,” he said.
He said the union was in the process of collecting data from financial lending institutions that had personal arrangements with civil servants so that they can also benefit from the debt swap.
