Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa on Friday told his head of missions that he is “the intellectual, not them”
He also accused them of gross abuse of funds telling wayward ones to resign.
Mwanawasa, reports say he said this when addressing all Zambian heads of mission at State House.
The president reminded them that they are not politicians but civil
servants who should demonstrate their intellectualism within the
confines of the Government polices.
Their duty was to represent him and, therefore, should not criticise
Government policies.
“When you are an ambassador you are not a politician, you are a civil
servant. This is why we always ask you to be appointed in the public
service before we can send you to the country of accreditation.
“When you go there, you must represent Zambia and in particular the
president. The president is the intellectual, not you,” he said.
Diplomats who did not agree with the policies of the Government must
resign as they were in a wrong career, he is quoted a saying.
On finance’s he said that according to preliminary information gathered
most heads of mission had mismanaged public resources entrusted to them.
He had constantly received reports that most of them had disregarded financial regulations therefore it was necessary to send auditors to a number of missions to carry out special audits, he said.
He is quoted as saying “While I am waiting for the final audit, I am
disappointed to note that the preliminary information I have gathered
so far paints a negative picture.
“As heads of mission, you are expected to adhere to the laid-down
financial regulations. It is unfortunate that I have constantly
received reports that most of you disregard financial regulations,”
he said.
Disciplinary action would be taken on those found guilty of mismanaging public funds. He said the Government did not have sufficient resources and expected the heads of mission to be responsible enough to exercise prudent management of the meagre resources available.
