BY definition, the civil service is a body of government officials employed in civil occupation that are neither political nor judicial.
The civil service exists to provide honest and quality service to tax payers, and therefore the right people in the right positions, with the right qualifications are expected to be employed in order to contribute to the development of the country.
Government’s performance is dependent on civil servants input, and once the service is compromised, there will be no development in the country.
Unfortunately, over the years, the country witnessed a poor public service delivery by civil servants with some highly engaging in partisan politics, corrupt activities and a bad attitude towards work.
It is from this observation that we agree with the Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) that we have an indiscipline workforce in the civil service.
CSAWUZ president Davy Chiyobe, in expressing happiness with the appointment of Peter Mumba as the Civil Service Commission chairperson, urges him to depoliticise the service and instill discipline in the workers.
The CSAWUZ is expectant that Mr Mumba will shift the approach of the operations of the civil service, depoliticize it and ensure disciplinary procedure is followed on earring officers and instill discipline in the service.
Mr Chiyobe urges Mr Mumba to help bring sanity in the service and not to rush into firing workers facing disciplinary cases but assess, correct and ensure they perform to the expectation of Zambians.
It is clear the service requires transforming, and having served for over 10 years as Permanent Secretary in various government ministries, Mr Mumba has to ensure he does a mind shift of patriotism where civil servants must deliver to the people.
Civil service officers are charged with the responsibility of looking after the wealth of the country and should be faithful in executing their duties.
We want to see a situation where those in the civil service serve with diligence, and avoid only changing the political attire from one party to another just to suit the environment.
Political cadres should not occupy high offices without qualifications and dismissing those perceived to have divergent views just to create vacancies for their preferred people.
Civil service officers should desist from engaging in partisan politics, but do their work diligently and efficiently as well as ensuring the prudent use and management of public resources is used for the intended purpose.
We also expect Mr Mumba to apply equality and fairness while ensuring that the highest levels of discipline are upheld in the civil service.