About forty (40) top and attractive government jobs at Ministry of Foreign Affairs are up for grabs as the President-elect Hakainde Hichilema prepares to swear in his new cabinet and appoint new heads of foreign missions or ambassadors.
Zambia has about 40 missions, which means that most of them, if not all of them will need to be filled up with new staff following the change of government. Zambia has been preaching about moving from political to economic diplomacy and this provides a fresh starting point to achieve this ambition.
A source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs whose identity has been withheld told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that the President-elect HH is expected to appoint about 40 heads of mission or ambassadors as he takes over from President Edgar Lungu.
It is expected that the current serving ambassadors or heads or mission will be recalled from service sooner or later as it has been the trend with previous changes in Government. However, this may not be implemented as fast as many new Government enthusiasts would wish because prudence has to be exercised due to the current state of the treasury. There is a constraint on availability of funds as the economy has just emerged from a period of economic contraction.
Nonetheless, for the few that were seen to be more outrightly aligned to the outgoing Patriotic Front – PF, we expect to these recalls happening earlier than others. It’s an expensive exercise as it involves relocation of families from abroad.
However, the turn of events may be different this time around. According to the President-elect Hakainde Hichilema, his cabinet, heads of government and quasi government institutions including High Commissioners and Ambassadors will be drawn from all the ten provinces of the country.
The president also said the appointments would be based on merit, competency, qualifications and ability to deliver. “We would like to state that our cabinet, heads of government and quasi government institutions including Ambassadors and High Commissioners will be drawn from all corners of Zambia. The additional criteria will be competency, qualifications and ability to deliver,” President elect Hichilema said.
Some ruling United Party for National Development – UPND insiders are currently lobbying for appointments though the government has not yet stated what criteria would be used to make the final appointments.
Experts have been calling for career diplomats to be appointed in these positions to part ways with appointing political party zealots who at most times are under-qualified. Some of the foreign missions Zambia maintains include Angola, Australia, United States of America, European Union, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, India, Germany and Botswana among others.
