WE agree with those who have condemned the statement from a UPND official who says his party has been compiling a list of civil servants who will be kicked out for not supporting President Hakainde Hichilema. Indeed, a modern functional democracy rests on a vital understanding that a permanent civil service is the institutional backbone of the State and must function independently of whichever political party happens to hold power. That is why UPND Lusaka Province Chairperson Obvious Mwaliteta is wrong to threaten civil servants whom he claims celebrated Brian Mundubile’s self-declared victory. When employment, livelihood and professional survival are tied directly to partisan loyalty, the line between a national public service and political patronage collapses. A civil servant does...