THE Civil Service Commission has dismissed 39 public service workers for various offences, with the Ministry of General Education topping the list of the fired workers at 18. The officers were dismissed in the second quarter of this year for alleged corruption, bribery, misappropriation of funds, fraud, abseentism and reporting late for work.

This was after the Civil Service Commission processed 1,044 cases of erring officers in various ministries. Commission secretary Geoffrey Kamfwa told a media briefing yesterday that 22 civil servants were dismissed for corruption, theft, bribery, misappropriation of funds and fraud. Others were 15 employees who lost jobs for absenteeism and poor time management

Mr Kamfwa said over the first half of the year, the Commission observed an upward trend in the number of cases of corruption, bribery and fraud. “You may wish to know that the most prominent ones from the total number of cases we processed include corruption, bribery, fraud and misappropriation of public funds,” he said. Of the 39 dismissed officers, 27 were male while 12 were female.

He said the commission has recorded a decline in the number of cases involving female officers who were dismissed, accounting for 31 percent while that of males accounted for 67 percent. “The Civil Service Commission wishes to urge all civil servants to adhere to the terms and conditions of service and abide by the Public Service Financial Management Act of 2018 in discharging their duties to avoid being cited for indisciplined behaviour,” Mr Kamfwa said.

He also urged ministries, provinces and other spending agencies to process finances in a timely manner while adhering to the right procedures and guidelines. Mr Kamfwa said the Civil Service Commission will continue responding to Government’s agenda as stipulated in the Seventh National Development Plan and Vision 2030 of making Zambia attain the status of a prosperous middle income country.