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High unemployment levels are a threat to stability – Sacika

High unemployment levels are a threat to stability – Sacika
Written by George Chellah
Monday, May 18, 2009 4:14:38 PM

HIGH levels of unemployment pose a threat to Zambia's social and political stability, former secretary to the cabinet Sketchely Sacika has said. And Sacika said the government is being irresponsible by failing to protect jobs in the mines and urged them to be proactive when dealing with job loses. In an interview, Sacika advised the government to address the job loses that were currently taking place.

"The government is being irresponsible by failing to protect the jobs in the mines and also in the entire economy because job loses are not only taking place on the mines. They are taking place everywhere," Sacika said.

"The levels of unemployment in Zambia today are already too high and they pose a threat to the social and political stability of the country. When you have so many hungry people, you are about to have many angry men and women."

He said given the size of the country's labour force, the formal sector employment was too small.

"Only about 10 per cent of the labour force is in formal sector employment. Most of our people are either unemployed or are battling it out in the underpaid and unproductive jobs in the so-called informal sector," Sacika said.

"This is not a healthy situation at all for our country and also our economy. As a matter of fact, we have a fewer formal sector jobs today than we had in 1991 when the MMD came to power. Nearly 20 years and when our labour force was much smaller than it is now."

He said the country had not made any progress at all.

"I just want to give an example, following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in Southern Rhodesia and the position taken by Kaunda's government was... because of the political situation in that country, there was a threat to the economic stability in Zambia," Sacika explained.

"In order to protect the economy and also the jobs, Kaunda took several measures which included prohibiting employers from dismissing their employees. If Kaunda had not taken those measures, Zambia would have collapsed as a country. Although the economy at the time was still in private hands, Kaunda saw the need to act to protect people."

Sacika said the government must be proactive when faced with problems in order to manage the situation.

"Unfortunately, our government has folded its arms and it's doing nothing about the job loses in the country. About the inability of our economy to generate jobs. Our young ones are growing up in despair and this is not good at all because they have no jobs," said Sacika.

"It's up to the government to give them hope. It's up to us, the adults, to give them hope. The government attitude that it is business as usual is completely wrong because our economic situation is already desperate."

Labels: DR. SKETCHLEY SACIKA, JOBLOSSES, UNEMPLOYMENT

posted by MrK @ 3:17 PM