No need for deputy ministers - Chellah
ZAMBIA needs sophisticated and reliable technocratic capacity in its public administration system and not a bloated executive arm of government, says former press aide for Micheal Sata George Chella.
Mr Chellah through his Facebook postings said, the notion that the country needed deputy ministers to enhance administrative capacity and delivery was self-serving and superfluous.
Mr Chella said there was no doubt that the idea of returning deputy ministers into government was inspired by a purely self- interested mindset as well as politics of loyalty and compensation at play.
He observed that, state capacity was dependent on reliable technocratic competence and not the number of ministers on hand, stating that real performance of any government globally relied on organisational structure and human capital development.
Mr Chella said, the leaders ought to understand that the effectiveness and administrative capacity of modern governments does not depend on the size and weight of the political arm, but technocratic ability through the establishment and sustenance of a merit- based civil service.
He however said, the present world order was such that many state activities and functions demand for top-notch professionalism in order to attain incredible milestones.
He noted the importance of the executive which was responsible for all government policies and daily administration of state affairs but having a bloated one would not yield anything for the country in comparison to staffing the bureaucracy or civil service with plenty specialized and exceptional hands.
Mr Chella said, a lean executive can still achieve the unimaginable if paired with a highly technocratic and dependable civil service.
“With less than 20 cabinet ministers, Singapore, a global financial centre with a GDP of over US$ 450 million and a population 5 million as at 2018, validates my standpoint, big is not always better, therefore for this reason, I submit that Zambia today, urgently requires technocratic capacity in government by deliberately investing in capacity building and educational schemes for its civil service more than deputy ministers, “said Mr Chella.