Government has said it will reduce the number of principal secretaries from the current 96 to 40 as part of public service reforms. The Mutharika government by reducing Ministries has created redudances as some Principal secretaries no longer have a Ministry to support.
The commission recomends that all actions and implementations should be done through a transparent and consultative process in order to ensure fairness and credibility. This exercise will be done by deleting irrelevant portifolios, deploying some PSs and exiting those that may not be required within the system. A decent one-off exit package will be offered.
Chilima called the press briefing to update the nation about the work that the Public Service Reform Commission which President Peter Muthahrika set up in June.
Mutharika appointed Chilima as chair of the commission. “We have initiated an audit for public positions to determine which positions are redundant. This auditing will result in reducing the number of Principal Secretaries 96 to 40. We will only retain one position where there are two; like the two deputy chief secretaries” said Chilima.
He said Government will not aim at pleasing anyone implementing the reforms. “For the entire Civil Service, we will look at the total structure and delete all irrelevant positions in order to come up with a lean and vibrant organisation”.
