President Mwanawasa says he will only appoint people in the public service on merit and not because of their tribe.
And Mr Mwanawasa said there was a lot of misuse of public funds and warned erring officers that they would be punished accordingly.
He said this during a swearing-in ceremony at State House Friday, writes Zambia Daily Mail.
– All appointments I make, especially those where I directly superintend, will be done on merit and in good faith. I am not so backward or primitive like some people are, that I should engage in acts of tribalism.
Mr Mwanawasa said this when he swore in former Minister of Youth, Sport and Child Development, George Chulumanda, as Zambia’s Ambassador to Mozambique and Mr James Mulungushi as Permanent Secretary for Planning and Economics in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning.
The President also swore in Mr Emmanuel Ngulube as Permanent Secretary for Budget Affairs in the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Mwanawasa explained that in exercising his duty of appointing people to various offices, he looked for experience from all over the country and that it was, therefore, in bad faith for anyone to insinuate that some tribes were marginalised.
