Claim
Following the dismissal of various permanent secretaries, including the Secretary to the Cabinet Dr. Simon Miti, there have been concerns that the government is running illegally without controlling officers. For example, on 10th October, 2021, the United Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia (UPPZ) political published an article on their Facebook page claiming that the New Dawn Government is running illegally without Permanent Secretaries at government ministries. The post further claimed the government was spending money without the accounting officers, the role played by permanent secretaries. The claim was further amplified by National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Saboi Imboela a few days later, when she stated during a special Interview on Muvi TV, that because President Hichilema “has fired all Permanent Secretaries at the same time… there are no controlling officers in the ministries, they are not signing any cheques…payments are not coming out”.
Rating Justification
The fact checking process has determined as false the claim that the Government is running illegally and spending public resources without Permanent Secretaries, who are the accounting officers for government ministries. After the inauguration of President Hakainde Hichilema, the government retired some Permanent Secretaries but some maintained their positions. Where a permanent secretary is relieved of his or her duties, or if they leave the office to attend to other work related issues or even get a vocational leave, someone is appointed to carry out their duties in an acting capacity. The Acting Permanent Secretary performs all the duties without compromise. In a case where a Permanent Secretary is fired, the Secretary to the Cabinet automatically moves in to perform controlling officer duties in that Ministry, and in most cases the directors are given the opportunity to act as Permanent Secretaries because they are the immediate juniors to the permanent secretaries, all this is conveniently done in the process pending the appointment of a new permanent secretary. The Constitution of Zambia, Act No. 2 of 2016, states in Article 176 that “a person qualifies to be appointed as Secretary to the Cabinet if that person has or had at least ten years’ experience as permanent secretary or equivalent rank.” This “Act” simply clarifies why the secretary to the cabinet automatically resumes duties. All in all whoever is given an opportunity to act as a permanent secretary in a ministry has no restrictions to what they can do.
