Over forty heads of Human Resource Management (HRM) from all government Ministries and Departments had to abandon all files and shut down their computers recently to get updates, share experiences, seek guidance and even simply, to interact with each other and with officers from their mother Office in a day-long session held at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC), in the Capital, Lilongwe, on October, 29, 2024.

At exactly 09.13 am, Secretary for Human Resource Management and Development, Mr. B.G Chilabade, who chaired the meeting, called the meeting to order and immediately a prayer and self-introductions were made, he took the gathering through the day’s business.  

Mr. Chilabade said the meeting was meant to remind each other of the key issues that are prevalent in their day to day operations. He singled out contributory pensions, individual performance management systems, and last pay certificates for officers who are being posted away, importance of job descriptions, recruitment and orientations, among others, as being crucial issues that had been lined up for the day.  

The Chair, however, emphasized the need for the heads to always be conversant with the laws regulations, policies, or Circulars that govern their job, and quote the same whenever raising issues with the Department. 

As the discussions progressed, the gathering was taken through various detailed presentations from divisions and sections of DHRMD.  The presentations had dug deeper on topics such as Individual Performance Management System (IPMS), Management Information Systems (MIS), Management Services, Conditions of Service, Human Resources Management, Planning and Development, Gender, Contributory Pension and many other services which Government offers through the DHRMD. 

Additionally, two of the DHRMD’s key stakeholders; the Medical Aid Society of Malawi (MASM) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) came up with insightful presentations highlighting key areas of their operations. While the CSC’s presentation had dwelt much on the management of recruitment and disciplinary issues in the civil service, MASM had emphasized on the roles of the human resource officers in the administration of the government medical scheme, and the new products MASM was introducing for its members in the civil service. These had included the establishment of a gym in Area 3, where members can always patronize and enjoy the services without paying a fee.  

The presentations session was ably anchored by DHRMD’s Principal Secretary responsible for Human Resource Management, Mr. Ian Chingwalu who took time to summarise every presentation, highlighting all the key points before opening it up for a plenary. The plenaries turned out to be another exciting moments as members asked questions, sought clarifications while others simply made comments on various topics.   

In closing the meeting, Mr. Chilabade thanked all heads for their attendance and active participation throughout the meeting. He said his Department was keen to ensure such meetings occur very often and that in the next meeting, DHRMD will create space whereby the heads will be able to input into the topics to be discussed