In the corridors of power in Lusaka, a familiar rhythm is accelerating. As the clock ticks towards the August 2026 General Election, the UPND government has unleashed a wave of public sector recruitments that has left the nation both hopeful and deeply sceptical. While thousands of families celebrate new pay cheques, a cloud of controversy hangs over the transparency of these drives—particularly within the police service.

The Recruitment Timeline: A ‘Big Bang’ Redux?

Since taking office in 2021, the New Dawn administration has used mass recruitment as its primary economic heartbeat. To understand where we are now, we must look at the journey so far:

• The 2022 ‘Big Bang’: The government made history by hiring 30,496 teachers and 11,276 health workers in a single year. It was a massive logistical feat designed to signal that the ‘jobs’ promise was real.
• The 2025–2026 Drive: Following a quieter 2024, the Treasury recently authorised the recruitment of 2,000 teachers for 2025 and an additional 3,500 for 2026. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Health is processing the intake of 2,500 new health workers as of March 2026.
• The April 2026 Police Flashpoint: The most recent—and most controversial—move is the hiring of 4,000 police officers. Unlike the public teacher drives, this was conducted as an ‘internal’ staffing exercise for civilian employees already within the service.

The Transparency Trap: Why the Police Story Stings

Last week, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly demanded an urgent explanation from Home Affairs Minister Jack Mwiimbu regarding the 4,000 new officers. The opposition has called the move ‘secret recruitment’, questioning why a hiring drive of this magnitude was not publicly advertised.

The government’s defence—that they are simply filling vacancies from retirements using existing budget lines—feels like a technicality to a public hungry for opportunity. When thousands of qualified, unemployed youths are sidelined in favour of an internal process just months before an election, it raises the inevitable question: Is this about service delivery, or is it about securing the loyalty of the security wings ahead of the polls?

The Skill Gap: Are We Hiring Numbers or Excellence?

A critical concern often ignored in the celebratory headlines is skill decay. Many of those being recruited today graduated five to ten years ago.

• The Reality: If a nurse has been selling second-hand clothes at a market for seven years to survive, can they walk into a theatre and assist in surgery today?
• The Training Gap: Mass training for 4,000 officers or 3,500 teachers often results in a diluted curriculum. When you train en masse, the individual mentorship required for specialised roles—like investigative policing or special needs education—is the first thing to be sacrificed.

The Payroll Nightmare: Can the System Cope?

Behind every new hire is the PMEC (Payroll Management and Establishment Control) system. While PMEC was designed to stop ‘ghost workers’, it is currently struggling with a different phantom: The Displaced Worker.

Currently, a teacher is often recruited for a rural post in Luapula but, through informal connections, manages to stay in Lusaka while still drawing the rural-allocated salary. The budget says the rural school is staffed, but the classroom is empty. Managing 50,000 new salaries since 2021 has pushed PMEC to its limits, leading to delays in ‘first pay’ that can last months, leaving new recruits in debt before they even receive their first cheque.

A Better Way Forward

If the goal is truly a stronger Zambia, we must move away from the ‘Election Spike’ model of hiring:

1. Staggered Annual Recruitment: Instead of 30,000 every four years, we should hire 7,000 every year. This allows training colleges to maintain quality and the Treasury to avoid fiscal cliffs.
2. Mandatory Refresher Programmes: No one who has been out of their field for more than three years should be deployed without a three-month ‘Clinical/Pedagogical Re-entry’ course.
3. Biometric Payroll Linking: Salaries should be linked to GPS-verified attendance at the assigned station. If you aren't at your rural post, the PMEC system shouldn't trigger your pay.

The Pulse Verdict: Mass recruitment is a lifeline for our youth, but when it lacks transparency and quality control, it becomes a political tool rather than a developmental one. As we edge towards August 2026, the Zambian people deserve more than just a job—they deserve a system they can trust.