LUSAKA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Wednesday banned health workers from having private jobs in the private sector as it was against their conditions of service.

In an internal memo sent to all supervisors in government health institutions, Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Kennedy Malama said all employees in the ministry should not be allowed to engage in multiple services whilst employed by the ministry.

He said the decision was in line with the terms and conditions of their employment.

"The Ministry has noted with concern that public service workers in the health sector, particularly medical personnel, have been engaging themselves in double or multiple employment whilst remaining active civil servants. You are hereby reminded that in accordance with the terms and conditions of service, no officer may draw a salary for more than one post at the same time," he said.

The directive, he said, was with immediate effect and that failure to comply would constitute misconduct and result in disciplinary action.

Among those affected include medical doctors, nurses, midwives, clinical officers, and any other officer employed in the ministry.

Moonlighting is common in Zambia among health workers who, apart from working for the government, also work for private health institutions due to poor working conditions in government.