Minister Botomani warns staff at Information Dept to desist from politics
Minister of Information, Civic Education and Communications Technology, Mark Botomani has asked staff working in the Information Department to desist from involvement in politics in their line of duty.
The minister was addressing the staff on Friday at the department’s offices in Area 3 in Lilongwe during his familiarisation tour to the offices.
The minister told the staff that it was highly expected of them to work according to civil service regulations and as civil servants, not as politicians.
“I know since the turn of events after the tripartite elections, the political environment is not stable, so it is easy and tempting for civil servants to engage themselves in political activities,” said Botomani.
He said although everyone voted differently, the fact that they are civil servants, it means they have one President who is Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika.
The minister, therefore, advised anyone who is not happy with the government to resign as a civil servant.
“You have careers to protect and families that depend on you; some of you will retire soon, it will be pathetic for you to be fired because you were involved in politics,” he warned, advising the staff to maintain the dignity of a civil service.
The minister toured Malawi News Agency, Publications Section, Film Unit and offices of the directorate. He noted some challenges the department is facing such as poor furniture.
He, therefore, pledged to start working on some of the challenges presented to him by the staff through Chief Information Officer Edson Mwamvani. He revealed that in a few months, the department might secure better office space within the city so that all its sections are housed under one roof.
“The department is important because for people to know what government is doing in terms of development activities, it is this department that can do that,” Botomani said.
Speaking on behalf of staff earlier, Mwamvani outlined challenges being faced by the department in all its sections. These challenges include shortage of vehicles, computers and inadequate office space among others.
“This problem extends to regional offices as well as district offices but our goal is to reach a wider coverage but we fail because of mobility,” said Mwamvani.
Another problem highlighted was that in most cases, the staff go out to the field without allowances, as such, the department has accumulated substantial amount of money for its staff.
During the tour of offices, Deputy Director responsible for Press and Publications, Deogratias Mmana said it was sad that a government news agency does not have a vehicle; as such reporters are subjected to dance to the tune of event organisers or news sources.
This was the first time Botomani toured the Information Department to familiarize himself since he was appointed Minister of Information, Civic Education and Information Technology.
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