Lilongwe, December 5: President Lazarus Chakwera says his government is geared to transform and create a conducive working environment for all civil servants in order to achieve meaningful public service delivery to the people across the country.

Chakwera said this on Tuesday in Lilongwe during the launch of civil servants’ medical scheme whose aim is to provide good health conditions to all civil servants.

“We cannot be speaking of transforming, re-building and creating conducive working environment for civil servants without providing a good medical scheme to them. I believe that a healthy civil servant is a catalyst for efficient public service delivery, hence the launch of this programme,” he said.

Chakwera therefore called on civil servants in the country to embrace and register with the medical scheme to avoid inconveniences and other challenges they have been encountering when they fall sick. 

Apart from the medical scheme, Chakwera has also assured the civil servants that his government will very soon complete the construction of Capital Hill Civil Servant Clinic, which was abandoned in the past so that public servants should not panic and walk long distances when they fall sick at work.

Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba thanked the President and his government for all the initiatives aimed at providing good working conditions for the civil servants.

Zamba said civil servants under the Tonse government have seen tremendous initiatives, such as the introduction of civil servant special allowance, transport allowance and the current salary increment given to civil servants to cushion them from the effects of devaluation.

“I am happy, your Excellency, to report that since we established civil servants medical scheme, starting with senior civil servants we have recorded 26,000 civil servants who are now on medical scheme and it has now been extended to all civil servants regardless of one’s grade,” she said.

One of the beneficiaries of the medical scheme, Ruth Nkhambure Elia, who is also a teacher at Kabwabwa Community Day Secondary School, said the medical scheme has lessened the psychological stress among civil servants when they fall sick.

Civil servants who will voluntarily be on the medical scheme will only contribute 10 percent while the remaining 90 percent will be covered by the government.

The scheme will also give chance to all civil servants to access the needed medical treatment locally and internationally and will also cater for funeral costs when a civil servant dies.

Reported by Andrew Mkonda