No, President Hichilema has not abolished civil servants’ allowances.

Rating Justification

The Fact-Checking Process has established as false the claim by Smart Eagles, Diamond TV and other Facebook Pages that President Hichilema has abolished civil servants’ allowances.
During the swearing-in of several Senior Government Officials, President Hakainde Hichilema delivered a speech that addressed several issues, including an upcoming workshop that Permanent Secretaries and Ministers were required to attend. In the video, President Hichilema is heard explaining that Permanent Secretaries and Ministers will not receive allowances for attending this particular workshop as it will be conducted during working hours. The President went on to disapprove of what used to happen under the previous government, where government officials were paid allowances for attending a workshop or meeting at Mulungushi International Conference Centre on a normal working day and within the normal working hours.
To further verify the claim by the media, iVerify consulted the article published by the Minister of Information and Media, Hon. Chushi Kasanda’s official Facebook Page on 26th November 2021. Hon. Kasanda clarified that at no point the President talked about abolishing civil servants’ allowances in his speech during the swearing-in ceremony of some senior Government officials at State House. She said that “insinuations that allowances for civil servants have been abolished, as suggested in some sections of the media are false and malicious”.
Based on the recording of the swearing-in ceremony where President Hichilema spoke, as well as the article published by the Minister of Information and Media, the claim that President Hichilema has abolished civil servant’s allowances generally is considered false. Instead, he only explained that Permanent Secretaries and Ministers will not receive an allowance for attending a specific workshop on a particular day, held during working hours.