IT’S A ZAMBEZI GOVERNMENT
…People from the same region occupy key positions – Simutanyi
By Adrian Mwanza
THERE is a perception among Zambians that key positions in the civil service under the United Party for National Development (UPND) are held by people from the Zambezi Region, political analyst Professor Neo Simutanyi has said.
In an interview with The Mast, Prof Simutanyi said it was a known fact that people from the Zambezi Region (Southern, Western and North-western provinces) were the ones holding key positions in the public service.
“The claim is based on facts because if you look at positions like that of the Speaker [of the National Assembly], Chief Justice and even most permanent secretaries you will see that they hail from the same region,” he said.
Prof Simutanyi said most people from other regions were being sidelined and were not having key positions in the current regime, occupying only middle and low-level positions in which they were unable to make decisions or influence decision-making.
He said most of the people who came from provinces outside the Zambezi Region had been surrendered to Cabinet Office after being “redeployed”.
Prof Simutanyi said he had many friends who had been fired for merely being suspected of being supporters of the Patriotic Font (PF) simply because of the regions where they hailed from.
“I have a lot of friends who were either fired or redeployed because they were deemed to be supporters of the previous regime,” he said.
It was disappointing because people had earlier thought the ruling UPND would change things from the previous governments.
Prof Simutanyi said it was a similar situation with board chairpersons in most parastatal companies.
Most of them hailed from the same the Zambezi Region.
“What was expected was realignment and correcting the norm rather than adopting the same things they condemned [while they were in opposition],” he said.
Since it came into office, the UPND has been under constant scrutiny over alleged tribalism in its distribution of employment opportunities and promotions to key positions in the public service.
It has been accused of favouring the region where President Hakainde Hichilema and majority of his ministers hail from.
