By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA –
KITWE Mayor, Kelvin Sinyangwe has backed calls for the abolishment of the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) on grounds that the commission has not fulfilled the mandate for which it was established for.
Mr Sinyangwe said the establishment of the LGSC was intended to improve operations of the councils but that this was not the case currently.
The mayor said at a Press briefing held at the Kitwe City Council (KCC) yesterday that with the LGSC in place, councils in the country had witnessed divided loyalty among staff being appointed by the commission.
He said he was particularly saddened with the LGSC over its centralised recruitment criteria which favoured Lusaka residents at the expense of local people in other districts.
“When recruiting council staff, the LGSC employs people from Lusaka at the expense of locals from districts where vacancies are being filled.
“Now when you look at the Patriotic Front (PF) Government campaign promise, they promised to create employment for locals and not just Lusaka residents,” he said.
Mr Sinyangwe said councils were having problems to supervise staff recruited by the LGSC from Lusaka because their allegiance allegedly lay with the appointing authority as opposed to the institutions where they were serving.
He said the LGSC was in its current set up only doing a disservice to councils.
“With the Local Government Service Commission in place, it seems Government is only putting money in the pockets of Lusaka residents because they are the ones being recruited by the commission and not those from here and other places other than the capital city,” he said.
The Lusaka City Council last week passed a resolution calling for the abolishing of the LGSC alleging that it had failed to perform and a drain on public resources.