ALL presidential aides and permanent secretaries no longer have personal-to-holder vehicles as part of the austerity measures.
Special assistant to the President for press and public relations Amos Chanda told journalists at State House yesterday that austerity measures are real and being implemented by Government.
“The austerity measures Government has put in place have nothing to do with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“This is a conscious realisation of Cabinet to cut down on expenditure and increase accountability,” Mr Chanda said.
DAILY MAIL
WITH the aim to improve security and conform to the international Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standard, Government is migrating from machine readable to electronic passports, the Ministry of Home Affairs has said.
Ministry of Home Affairs, public relations officer Chifuta Nephas said a tender for technical and financial proposals for the e-passport production through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) has been floated.
In a statement issued yesterday, Mr Chifuta said the tender seeks to solicit participation from all reputable companies with financial and technical capacity to facilitate migration from machine readable to e- passport.
“The Ministry wishes to disassociate itself from the speculation and allegations circulating on social media relating to corruption surrounding this procurement and that this tender has already been awarded to a Belgian company as false, malicious and unfounded, and therefore, to be treated as mere speculations,” he said.
Government austerity measures should be made by the government spokesperson not the president’s press assistant