Health workers boycott ‘full-board’ seminar, reprimanded
Ministry of Health (MoH) has warned health workers under the Lilongwe District Health Office (DHO) for boycotting a donor-funded workshop because of lack of subsistence allowances.
In a letter dated September 27 2016, MoH Principal Secretary MacPhail Magwira said the conduct of the health workers was “unprofessional and irresponsible”.
He said the behaviour the concerned health workers displayed before the sponsor of the programme “is a serious act of misconduct and has the potential to drive away potential donors”.
Reads in part the letter: “I wish to warn you that you should never repeat such misconduct. Any recurrence will attract serious disciplinary action against you with a possibility of summary dismissal from the civil service.”
Recently, development partners (DPs) introduced a new set of principles and rates for all donor-funded events and missions.
The new measures, which include introduction of a full-board system, were instituted following revelations of Cashgate—the plunder of public resources at Capital Hill exposed in September 2013—as donors felt civil servants were hunting for allowances when they organised meetings and workshops away from their duty stations.
The revision of allowance policy was meant to limit direct cash handouts to civil servants and others attending meetings or workshops outside their duty stations.
However, the measures are facing resistance as majority of the invited participants to such meetings rarely report.
The latest development involves health workers under the Lilongwe DHO who boycotted an HIV Test and Treat Workshop funded by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an agency of the United States of America (USA) government.
Recently, donors complained to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) over reports that civil servants are not showing up for workshops or various meetings sponsored by DPs due to the issue of subsistence allowances.
They argued that their workshops, trainings and seminars are aimed at assisting government to improve public service delivery.
In August this year, Chief Secretary to the Government George Mkondiwa told our sister newspaper, Weekend Nation, that government would invite donors to discuss the matter. n
