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The Consortium of Civil Society Organisations for Good Governance and Constitutionalism has criticized senior Zambian civil servants for engaging in political campaigning while still holding public office, calling it a “brazen and unacceptable” violation of the Constitution.
Consortium Vice Chairperson, Solomon Ngoma, singled out Northern Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Beauty Undi-Phiri for reportedly distributing party regalia and actively campaigning while in office.
Ngoma said the conduct contravened Article 186 of the Constitution, which required civil servants to remain politically neutral.
“This is not a technical breach. It is a deliberate and calculated abrogation of the Constitution by an officer who swore an oath to defend it,” he said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
He warned that civil servants who flouted constitutional obligations were unfit to remain in office and could credibly aspire to become lawmakers under the same Constitution.
Ngoma also highlighted that the behaviour persisted despite directives from the President through the Secretary to the Cabinet reminding civil servants to remain non-partisan.
“Public offices such as those of Permanent Secretaries, Deputy Permanent Secretaries and District Commissioners exist to serve the Zambian people — not to mobilise voters or distribute party regalia,” he said, adding that individuals who engaged in political campaigning while in office were abusing public authority and should immediately resign.
The Consortium further threatened legal action if the trend continued, urging the courts to clarify that civil servants who violated the Constitution could later seek election to Parliament or other public office.
Ngoma stressed that the neutrality of the civil service was a cornerstone of democratic governance and that converting state authority into campaign machinery undermined constitutionalism, good governance, and the rule of law.
“We therefore call upon all civil servants with political ambitions to do the honourable and lawful thing: resign immediately and seek adoption as private citizens. Anything less is a betrayal of their oath, the Constitution, and the Zambian people,” he said.
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