Role to hire and fire ‘clear’

By HELEN TARAWA
Minister for Public Service Elias Kapavore says provincial administrators and departmental heads in acting positions, who have had their appointments gazetted, have full financial powers under Section 32 of the Public Finance Management Act.
Kapavore told The National that many provincial governors and MPs had asked about why acting administrators were not able to make appointments as deputies and district chief executive officers can.
He explained that the acting appointees had full rights to hire and fire according to the powers conferred on them by the Department of Personnel Management Secretary John Kali.
“I want to clarify that acting appointments, acting provincial administrators or departmental heads have full powers,” Kapavore said.
“They have full financial powers under section 32 of PFMA and they have full human resources power for recruitments, they hire and fire and they have all the disciplinary powers to make on the staff who are not performing.
“It is not necessarily waiting for someone to become acting or to become substantively appointed before they have those full powers.
“There is no need for us to actually wait for someone to become substantive or permanently appointed first before they can have all those powers.
“This is something that we can correct, acting appointments for departmental heads, administrators, CEOs of hospitals, CEOs of statutory authorities have full financial powers and full human resource powers so they must execute those powers in full.”