By Tione Andsen

Lilongwe, August 2, Mana: Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change has warned that deadwood in Ministry would be thrown out if progress was to be made.

Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Dr Michael Usi made the warning Wednesday during a Press Briefing on the Progress of his Ministry in Lilongwe.

He said the Ministry need to bring in mind set change among its officials to value their services they provide to the public.

The Minister said there are some officials who are deliberately frustrating the Ministry’s efforts to attain its objectives and mandate

Usi noted that dismissing civil servants from the public service has been a challenge to the absence of appraisals reports within ministries, departments and government agencies.

“I have already informed my Principal Secretary to make sure that appraisal reports should be made available by end August, 2023 and this will provide an opportunity to have a basis to remove the deadwood from the Ministry,” he charged.

The Minister pointed out that all civil servants are subjected to removal from the public service if there is clear evidence that are failing to perform their work and if they could challenge their dismissal the ministry should be in a position to provide tangible evidence of their action.

He said there are high quality officials within the Ministry who are relevant to their work and they need to be motivated to more.

“We have an example where officials of the Ministry have deliberate delay in processing application letters for mining.  Department of Forestry has expedited the process and all applicants have been responded to within a week and this is what we need,” Usi added.

He said it becomes frustrating to note that some officials are not taking up their assignments and this tendency needs to be stopped.

The Minister said the issue of Viphya housing scandal is one of example which need addressed thoroughly and amicable solutions should be found.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Dr Yusuf Nkungula emphasized said the Ministry has a mandate to implement.

He said everything need to be done through teamwork, collaboration, coordination and networking.