In this press release, the Personnel Management Office declares as false an article it says has made rounds in the social media claiming some malpractice in the redeployment of a staff from the Transport Ministry to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The full release from PMO follows:
This Office has noted with disgust a recent article on social media alleging that PMO had rescinded the redeployment of a PAS from Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among other things. The article is not only malicious but also self-serving.
We would like to first of all make it clear that this Office has NOT redeployed any PAS from the Ministry of Transport to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the recent past that has been subsequently rescinded. We believe the author of the article was seriously misinformed or is desirous to stain the reputation of this Office.
It is important for the general readership to understand that redeployments in the Civil Service have been largely decentralized or devolved to Ministries and Departments. The PMO is only responsible for the Administrative and Secretarial Cadres of the Civil Service. Redeployments in these cadres are normally based on number of factors that are considered to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of the Service; not just to serve individual interests, which may sometimes conflict with organizational interests.
As regard the “unauthorized absence” of the Director of Technical Services at Ministry of Transport, this was news to PMO. However, it should be pointed out that, whereas that may be the case, as per PSC Regulation 57, the responsibility is on the Head of Department to formally report such matters to PMO to enable us take appropriate disciplinary action through the Public Service Commission (PSC). The said regulation stipulates that: “Where any public officer is absent from duty without leave or reasonable cause for a period exceeding 14 days and the officer cannot be traced within a period of 20 days of commencement of such absence, or if traced, no reply to a charge of absence without leave is received from him/her within 10 days after the dispatch of the charge to him, the Head of Department shall report the matter to Permanent Secretary, PMO, who shall inform the Secretary, PSC and the Commission shall consider the case and may summarily dismiss him/her and declare his/her position vacant”.
Therefore, we expect that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry to be competent enough to ensure that any such absence is appropriately addressed.