THE Ministry of National Development Planning has warned members of the public to be wary of unscrupulous individuals swindling them of their monies after promising to find them employment in the public service.

In a statement, Ministry Spokesperson Chibaula Silwamba cautioned unsuspecting members of the public to resist paying any third-parties funds to apply for non-existing vacancies at the Ministry or elsewhere in government.

He explained that there was no fee required for anyone wishing to join the public service, adding that the Ministry currently had no vacancies for both temporal and permanent employment.

“The Ministry of National Development Planning wishes to dispel and warn unscrupulous individuals that are swindling innocent members of the public under the pretext that they are recruiting personnel for the Ministry. It has come to our attention that some fraudsters are defrauding job seekers and collecting ‘fees’ as high as K700, purporting to be a charge for the applicants to be employed in the Ministry of National Development Planning. The fraudsters are even signing fake contracts with applicants, with assurances that the latter will be engaged to be field agents for a six-month period to sensitize the public about the 7th National Development Plan (7NDP). This is totally false and members of the public should be wary of these fraudsters and report them to law enforcement agencies,” stated Silwamba.

“Following receipt of complaints from members of the public concerning these fraudulent activities, the Ministry of National Development Planning has reported the matter to the Zambia Police Service to institute investigations and bring the culprits to book. Ministry of National Development Planning Permanent Secretary (Development Planning and Administration) Mr Chola Chabala wishes to categorically state that there is no on-going recruitment of personnel to support the sensitization on the implementation of the 7NDP. The Permanent Secretary further wishes to inform members of the public that there is no requirement of payment for anyone to be engaged on temporal or permanent basis in the public service. Mr Chabala advised that any advert prescribing payment of a fee is fraudulent and culprits must be reported to law enforcement officers for appropriate action.”