Kali: Defiant civil servants will be caught

PUBLIC servants intending to contest the general election but have not yet resigned will be caught, says Personnel Management Secretary John Kali.
He said they should have all resigned in October.
“On the issue of public office holders, they know they should have resigned before Oct 20 last year – six months prior to the issue of writs on April 20 – like other senior officials have done,” Kali told The National.
“They have been enjoying and using State resources at their disposal for the past four months.
“I expect the law to catch up with them.”
Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato said public servants intending to contest the general election should by now have resigned.
Gamato said he was aware of some public servants still holding on to their jobs but they were mostly political staff of MPs.
“The circular instruction (from Personnel Management) is for true public servants,” Gamato said.
“These people (public servants still holding on to their jobs) are political-appointed staff.
“So concerns should be raised with leaders who are employing these people.”
Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari said there was no automatic re-entry for those who had resigned.
“The circular says that once you resign in October, you can’t come back to the public service,” he said.
“The law says that you have to apply for a position, unlike before where you could resign six months before elections and you can come back to the public service.”