Public Service Commission chairperson Dickson Chasaya says civil servants should not view transfers as victimisation.

And Chasaya says it is worrying to note that most civil servants, including senior officers, do not know or understand the setup of government.

Speaking when he paid a courtesy call on Central Province Permanent Secretary, Chanda Kabwe yesterday, Chasaya said civil servants should not view transfers as victimization as some of them had overstayed in one place rendering them ineffective.

“The reason why we are meeting civil servants in provinces is to change their mind-set. We want to change the mind-set that you can be in one place for 10 to 15 years. We want civil servants to know that when they join the civil service, they can be sent to any part of the country where their services are required. Some people think when they are transferred that it is because they belong to a certain political party. Transfers are normal,” Chasaya said.

“If you check the records, even just here in Kabwe, you will discover that some people have been here for the past 20 years. And because they have been stagnant for such a long time, when you transfer them, they think that they are being victimised. We are not victimising anybody. We simply want to bring normality to the system because this is what people agreed to when they were being employed; that they will work anywhere in the country.”

And the commission chairperson lamented that some civil servants did not understand operations of government.

“I have discovered in one of the meetings that we had that civil servants, sadly even senior officers, do not know the setup of the government. I keep on repeating myself that you cannot serve a master you do not know. You should know who your master is, then you can serve that master well,” he said.

He disclosed that the commission will be having general meetings in provinces with civil servants in order for them to air their grievances and know their leaders.

“I know that civil servants are eager to know their leaders. We have been in office for about seven months now, so we know that civil servants have a lot of issues which they are going through. As a commission we are here in the province to interact with civil servants and hear them out in the general meeting that we shall have later,” he said.

Meanwhile the Public Service Commission chairperson has charged that the civil service as an engine of the economy calls for a loyal and dedicated workforce.

“The civil service is the engine of the economy. We drive the policies of the government. This means that we should have a civil service that is loyal, dedicated and respectful to the government of the day,” said Chasaya.