Barely six months after Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi touted a reduction in the number of principal secretaries (PSs) from 80 to 38 as geared towards efficiency, the number has now risen. The Nation has established that at least 60 officers hold the position of PS, with some ministries such as Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation having up to four. In a written response yesterday, OPC spokesperson Focus Maganga conceded that the number is slightly higher than stated earlier because some additions were necessitated by need.
Maganga said the reduction reflected the spirit of ongoing austerity measures. He said: “It is true a few principal secretaries have been added, such decisions have been driven strictly by operational necessity. For instance, the separation of Mining from Energy was essential to strengthen governance and unlock the sector’s economic potential while reforms to the Constituency Development Fund required enhanced oversight and coordination.
In separate interviews, three serving PSs confirmed that they were posted to the section, commonly referred to as ‘Guantanamo’ after a US naval and military detention camp in Cuba established in 1903 and turned into a detention camp from 2002. The trio said they have no defined assignments but continue to draw PS perks. One of the PSs said some of their colleagues do not even report for duties regularly or work half day for lack of assignments.
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However, what stands out now is that the number of PSs appears to contradict government’s public expenditure control message. Besides the 10 PSs assigned special duties, the OPC has five other PSs. An official list of PSs The Nation has seen shows that three PSs are listed under OPC itself, namely Rashid Ntelera, Patrick Matanda and Samson Ngutwa.
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