THE Civil Service Commission (CSC) says it has started implementing President Hakainde Hichilema’s directive to employ volunteer health workers, with applications from the first three provinces where the pledge was made already being validated.

Civil Service Commission Chairperson Dr Choolwe Beyani says the Commission is treating the implementation of the presidential directive with the urgency, seriousness and diligence it deserves.

Meanwhile, Dr Beyani says applications for the recruitment of 2,600 health workers will close today as scheduled, with no extension to the deadline.

During the ongoing campaigns, President Hichilema has offered jobs to volunteer nurses and teachers who have attended his rallies.

Addressing the media, Thursday, Dr Beyani said the Commission had started implementing the President’s directive, with validation of applications already underway in Muchinga, Northern and Luapula provinces.

“The Civil Service Commission has taken cognisance of this presidential directive and, in accordance with its constitutional mandate, has immediately commenced the necessary processes to facilitate its implementation. As you may well be aware, this is a national exercise with heightened public interest and hence will be undertaken with the urgency that it deserves. In this regard, the Commission has, so far, successfully completed the collection of application documents from the provinces where the President issued the initial directives, namely Muchinga, Northern and Luapula provinces. The validation of these applications is currently underway to ensure conformity with the directives of the President. The Commission will soon commence the same exercise in the remaining provinces where the directives have so far been given in order to ensure every person covered in the directive is correctly captured,” he said.

He assured volunteer health workers that the Commission would communicate the next steps after the validation exercise.

“I wish to assure all volunteer health workers that the Commission is treating the implementation of this presidential directive with the urgency, seriousness and diligence it deserves. We fully appreciate the expectations and anxiety of the concerned health workers, their families and the nation at large. Once the validation process has been concluded, the Commission will, through the media, formally communicate the way forward, including the appointment process, placement arrangements and the subsequent issuance of appointment letters. The Commission is aware of an online portal purporting to be conducting online recruitments in the name of the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service Commission does not run any online recruitment portal and therefore, all applications are expected to be made through ZAMPOST as earlier announced. I therefore urge all applicants to be vigilant and avoid any deviations from what has been formally communicated earlier,” Dr Beyani said.

And Dr Beyani said only applications for the health worker recruitment exercise lodged through the Zambia Postal Services Corporation (ZAMPOST) would be considered.

“The closing date for the submission of applications remains 7th August, 2026, and no applications received after this date shall be accepted. Please note that the Civil Service Commission, the Public Service Management Division (PSMD) or the Ministry of Health are not receiving applications directly. Applications submitted directly to any institution other than ZAMPOST will not be considered. Further, the Commission will not extend the application deadline. I, therefore, strongly encourage all eligible Zambians who have not yet submitted their applications to do so immediately in order to avoid being disenfranchised. The recruitment exercise was initiated to invite suitably qualified Zambians to apply for vacancies across various health professional cadres and to indicate their preferred districts of deployment, thereby supporting equitable distribution of health personnel across the country,” he said.

Dr Beyani said all applicants would be required to verify their application details between September 1 and 11, 2026, adding that those who applied during the 2023 recruitment exercise would be required to submit fresh applications.

“Following the closure of the application period, all applicants will be required to verify their application details at their respective Provincial Health Offices for medical doctors and pharmacists, and District Health Offices for all the other categories, from 1st to 11th September, 2026. This verification exercise is a critical quality assurance measure designed to ensure the accuracy, completeness and credibility of the recruitment database before the selection process commences. The Commission, therefore, expects every applicant to participate in this exercise as failure to verify their details may adversely affect their application. Furthermore, I wish to make it clear that individuals who submitted applications during the 2023 recruitment exercise are required to re-apply. This requirement is necessary to establish a clean, current and verified database that accurately captures each applicant’s present qualifications, district of preference and other relevant particulars,” said Dr Beyani.