Maravi

Avoid insults in the coming year, advises HH

Avoid insults in the coming year, advises HH
By Nomusa Michelo and Patson Chilemba
Monday December 31, 2007 [03:01]

UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema has advised politicians to move away from insulting each other in the coming year. Giving a review of 2007, Hichilema said there had been a lot of exchange of insults by politicians at the expense of economic and social progress.

“We (UPND) will not entertain those that like to quarrel with us politically. We will focus on building the party, a party for the future of Zambia. We want to focus on moving away from insults. By now Zambians know who likes insulting.

Don’t be deceived by those who when they fail to compete with others they bring in issues such as the tribal tag,” Hichilema said. “Nobody chooses to be born in a particular province, district or area. The people of Zambia must stop being cheated by those who cling on this mediocre basis of choosing leadership. We must all come together and choose the best leadership for the people of Zambia not for the province, not for the ethic group.”

And referring to remarks made by Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata on Chinese and Indian nationals, Hichilema said there was no room for racism in today’s world.
“And really, we must take out the smell of racism. In the last year, 2007, we saw a lot of racism which in a way you can tie to the same people who are talking tribal all the time.

You can’t say you don’t like Chinese, you don’t like Lebanese, you don’t like Indians,” he said. “Why would one in this era say they don’t like these Chinese or Indians. When we have difficulties in our investment laws and structures, it doesn’t mean the Chinese are bad. It is us who should structure laws to ensure that investment whether local or foreign benefits both the investor and the Zambian. So we are blaming the wrong people. The problem doesn’t lie with the Chinese. It lies in prioritisation and the legal framework.”
Hichilema also said the country in 2007 wasted a lot of time fighting over the constitution making process at the expense of other important national issues.
Hichilema said if the MMD government was a listening one, the nation would not have wasted so much time over a straightforward issue.

He also said although the allowances that delegates attending the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) were hefty, it was not likely that the MMD government would agree to reduce them.

“To ask the MMD to reduce the allowances is like asking to draw milk from the stone. They operate like a stone because they don’t listen to anyone,” he said.

Hichilema also charged that the government had lost initiative on the economic front. He said the much talked about economic growth had not benefited the poor.

“They set an inflation target of five per cent, they have failed. Inflation is about 8.9 per cent. The marketing of produce is still a disaster. The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has failed. I call it government robbery of poor peasant farmers. Getting maize from the farmers and then not paying them on time is failure,” he said.

Hichilema said yet again in 2007, people continued to receive a raw deal from the huge profits that were coming from the mines.

“When you see trucks moving to the Copperbelt, the question is how many of those monies are trickling to the Zambian people? How many jobs have been created?” Hichilema asked. “Zesco has also increased the tariffs by 26.8 per cent when the inflation rate is 8.9 per cent, therefore you are saying many more households will be switched off.”
Hichilema said by 2009, the country should be focusing on the Electoral Act.

“We must have a good Electoral Act and obviously Freedom of Information Laws must be put in place. By the middle of 2009 we should be through with those issues,” he said.
Also reviewing the year, Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Leonard Hikaumba said the country had continued to experience high levels of casualisation.

“The one problem that has persisted is that of casualisation. It has continued despite pronouncements by government that they will punish employers who casualise and even amid complaints from workers’ organisations,” he said. “What we would like to see now is a legal framework that will protect the workers against casualisation.”

Hikaumba said government was currently reviewing the labour laws which the workers’ unions hopped would give a solution to the issue of casualisation.

“In the review of the labour laws the proposals that have been made are good on how casualisation can be minimised. It is our expectation that the labour law reforms should be concluded during 2008 because this is the sure way that the workers can be given adequate protection,” he said.

Hikaumba also said there was need for employers and government to involve workers and workers representatives when making decisions that affected them.
“Even when certain measures are good, if workers are not involved they may not support them,” he said.

Hikaumba called on employers to ensure a safe working environment for workers.
He said workers in industries were particularly prone to experience accidents.

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA

posted by MrK @ 4:32 AM