Chilima touts hardwork, patriotism to Malawi govt officials
Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima on Tuesday made a passionate plea to government officials to be patriotic, embrace business unusual approach and continue working hard – saying there will be enough time to rest in the grave.
Chilima, who is well known for being a workaholic, disciplined and time conscious, was speaking in Lilongwe when he opened an orientation workshop on Change and Impact Evaluation for parastatal Chief Executive Officers, Reform Champions and Public Relations Officers from Ministries and Government Departments.
“We all have an obligation to this country. Let us change the way we have done things before. Zomati ife kuno ndimomwetipangira zither poti zimenezo sizinatithize (Let us stop saying we can’t change because that’s how we have done business in the past). Let us work to help the 17 million plus Malawians out there,” said Chilima to the 150 delegates.
“Echoeing what the President has always said, let us be patriotic, hard workers and people of integrity. And let us innovate because times are changing. Let us work hard, we are playing catch up as a country and we can’t afford to waste time. Let us not do tomorrow what we can do today. We will sleep or rest enough in the grave,” said Chilima who earlier opposed self-introductions for the 150 delegates apparently because it could be a waste of time.
The Vice President then called on the ministries and the parastatals to retain and motivate best staff, saying such people are the best assets an organisation can have.
“If we want to be an effective public service and reclaim the lost glory that we had as country, it will be people who will do that and not machines so there is need to motivate and retain the best employees in the system,” said Chilima.
He then appealed to the Reform Agents or Directors to be conversant with reforms so that they are able to convert many people into understanding that the reforms are here to improve service delivery and the welfare of the people of Malawi.
“If we all understand the importance of reforming how we have conducted business in this country, it will be easy to domesticate the reforms or commoditise themjust like we all know salt and we buy even if it is not advertised because we know its usefulness,” said Chilima.
The Vice President then appealed to senior government officials working with Public Relations Officers to give the spokespersons breathing space so that they do their work properly without standing on their way.
“Learn to respect other people’s jobs. Allow the PROs to do their work by giving them the necessary information and requirements. Allow them to tell the public the truth. Let them share both good and bad news. From the bad news, learn lessons so you can do better next time,”advised the VP.
The orientation workshop is being facilitated by the Public Service Reforms Management Unit and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a nonprofit organization that creates and evaluates solutions to social and development problems across the globe.
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Saulos? Mwamuna sauzidwa. I guess you have heard it enough.
(1) APM schemed the idea of Reforms and devised a mechanism of how to go about it, and he formed a commission to do the job. He decided that the head of the commission should be his vice. I am very very very surprised that some of you here do not see APM in the Reform successes . All you see is Saulosi. How can you forget the one who sent Saulosi to do the task? Is it because you simply hate APM? Let us all praise APM and also Saulosi for the reforms. (2) Reforms without looking at qualifications,… Read more »
Swallow it Mapeiya. I support the originator of reforms who is Saulosi not Peter. Saulosi told Peter that the civil service need reforms as we do in private sector. Peter agreed but praise be to the originator or inventor of the idea to reform malawi public service, Saulosi. Saulosi is implementing the reforms which Peter and successive previous govts failed.
Whether he will succeed 100% is another matter but a small step in the right direction is better.
mmmmm zoona a vp mpaka kunena kuti we will rest ku manda, are you serious with this notion sir? pliz don’t joke ndi imfa , u rest while alive not while dead, zija zoti rest in peace anthu amangonena mwachizolowezi, mind your language saulos.
Its all in words and no action. True reform should start with Chilima trimming his convoy to three cars otherwise who are you fooling. Secondly public servants must work smart not hard because our farmers are working hard but no results because they dont work smart. More importantly Chilima must start respecting his staff and not denigrade them. The commission must wind up and let public servants do the needful. Paradoxically there is nothing new here and remember the civil service has evolved to what it is today. The problem has always been politicians failing to make hard decisions such… Read more »
i wish he was the president but alas! Your excellency continue guiding these people so that we cant see light at the end of the tunnel
MM,is there any impressive speech? Oh!! Cry my beloved motherland Malawi.if the leadership doesn’t show any sign of hard work and patriotism,how would you expect a hungry and unpatriotic people to work hard while the leaders’ jobs are to steal public funds and misrule the nation.Leaders must show the example firs otherwise you are wasting your time trying to be a good leader.How many workshops are conducted each day in the country without good results after spending millions of KWACHA paying for allowances which are useless and unproductive.Malawi will never develop on dishonesty.
MEETINGS !!!!!!!!!! WORKSHOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEMINARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!CONFERENCES ETC ETC ETC. WE ARE TIRED OF THIS AND WANT MAGUFULI TYPE OF REFORMS WHICH IS FULL OF ACTION AND RESULTS . WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THESE MEETINGS FROM 2014 TO 2016. MR CHILIMA THE MONIES SPENT ON THESE WORKSHOPS CAN BE BEST USED TO BUY MEDICATION FOR SOME POOR PATIENTS.MOST OF GOVT STAFF NEED TO BE BULLDOZED BUT NOT DISCUSSIONS.
if only SKC was the President and APM the VP, things could have changed in Malawi 360 Degrees. Chilima always delivers and he has a record for that. Not like the Education saga, the Justice stand off and the miscarriage with the foreign affair we saw with Peter Mutharika
I lyk ur comment mapwevupwevu
The only dpp person of calibre I see in Saulosi. Unfortunately for him, he has joined domesticated snakes people in dpp. But remember njoka saweta as you previously observed yourself.
The rest of dpp are devilish evil professional thieves.