By MWIYA MUKUMBUTA –
LIVINGSTONE District Commissioner Omar Munsanje has warned departmental heads in the district against staying away from District Development Coordinating Committee (DDCC) meetings.
Mr Munsanje said it was unacceptable for the heads of department to always ask their subordinates to represent them during such meetings.
He sounded the warning during a DDCC meeting at the Livingstone Civic Centre on Monday.
“I will have a look at the attendance list for the DDCC meetings for the year and if I find that you have not been attending the meetings, I will know that you don’t want the district to progress,” he said.
Mr Munsanje said shunning the meetings was a clear indication that some departmental heads did not value the importance of such platforms.
He said it was unfortunate that the heads of department were delegating their duties to officers who did not have a clear understanding of issues on the ground.
“If you have nothing to report on what do you expect the district to report at the Provincial Development Coordinating Committee (PDCC) or what do you expect the PDCC to report to Cabinet so that the challenges you are facing are resolved?” Mr Munsanje said.
He further urged civil servants to produce quarterly reports that reflect the actual work in their departments.
Mr Munsanje said it was disappointing that some officers were producing good reports which did not reflect the correct situation on the ground.
“I hope that the reports that you are presenting are the correct reflections of what is happening in your departments, otherwise it will be very unfortunate,” he said.
He urged the departments in the district to collaborate when implementing their programmes.
Mr Munsanje also said there was no need for the officers to wait for the DDCC meetings for them to report any operational challenges.