President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika on Friday warned civil servants against sabotaging the public sector reforms.
He made the warning at Kamuzu Place in Lilongwe during the performance contracts signing ceremony and presentation of commission’s exit report on public sector reforms.
Mutharika said that his government will not hesitate to fire them once they are discovered.
The Malawi leader said as far as he is concerned, the reforms that his government launched on June 11, 2017, are bearing fruits bearing in mind the various changes that are happening in the civil service.
Mutharika said, “I want to see the continuation of quarterly reporting, and report to me anyone frustrating the reforms or any Government programme in order to slow us down.
“Any public officer sabotaging reforms or development is an enemy of the country. Anyone sabotaging development will not be part of the civil service. They will be fired.
I know that there are many public servants who have accepted the reforms. We are already seeing improved revenue and innovation in a number of parastatals. We are now seeing greater efficiency in various institutions like in the water boards. We can see change in some ministries like the Ministry of Education. And we will not allow anyone to derail us or slow us down,” Mutharika added.
According to the President, transforming a country is a process, and that process is happening now.
“In the last two years, we have set new foundations of development that we failed to do in fifty years. We have set new foundations in the energy sector. We have set the stage for mining. We have set foundations for empowering the youth and industrializing this country through community colleges. We are bringing in investors and creating new jobs. We have set the stage for economic transformation, he added.
Commenting on the signing of the Organizational Performance agreements, Mutharika urged all the Ministries to stay on course of a Public Service that is professional, effective and efficient.
Outgoing Chairperson of the Public Sector Reform Commission, Vice President, Saulosi Chilima commended the President for his vision of the reforms which has seen a number of changes in the public service.
“Your Excellency, you told us when you were launching these reforms that days of doing business as usual are over, your dynamic leadership has seen the process of the reforms to be a success.
“As our tenure of office expires today, it is indeed a close of one chapter in the reform agenda and implementation but at the same time a start of a new chapter that will be led by your office sir, he said.
The Ministries that have signed their performance contracts include: the ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development, Ministry of Gender, Disability, Elderly and Children’s Welfare, Ministry of Home Affairs and internal Security, Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and Ministry of Defence.
