The Public Service Commission (PSC) has ordered all
Government workers who continue to serve in civil service after being elected
to political offices in the 2018 harmonised elections to step down immediately
or face disciplinary action.
This is according to a letter written to dozens of civil
servants by PSC secretary Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe on June 24, 2020.
Wutawunashe said in the letter that teachers or any other
civil servants who are urban or rural district councillors but remain in civil
service are acting in violation of the law and the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
He ordered all the concerned civil servants to either
resign from public service or step down from their elected office. Failure to do
so would result in disciplinary action.
He said Government issued a memo on November 28, 2018 to
all civil servants in which it clearly stated that civil servants elected to
public office should resign within 30 days of the elections. It is not clear
why it has taken so long for Wutawunashe to act.
Efforts to get a comment from Wutawunashe were futile.
The issue where civil servants also occupy elected
political office has been contentious for many years with many school
headmasters who are Zanu PF members being the culprits. The situation has been
so dire that parents complained against teachers leaving pupils unattended as
they ran around on political errands.
“This minute serves to direct that you are to confine your
employment to the civil service if you did not resign from the service within
30 days stipulated in the Constitution. In that event you ought not to be
serving as a councillor, which would be in violation of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe and the Public Service Regulations SI.1.
Given that it is an act of misconduct to engage in any
other employment or service for remuneration without the written consent of the
Commission, it is advisable that you act immediately to correct the situation,”
read part of the letter.
Masvingo Mirror
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