Maravi

Strong leadership is needed

Strong leadership is needed
Written by Editor

On Monday, Mopani Copper Mines retrenched 978 workers – over 500 in Kitwe and over 400 in Mufulira. These retrenchments should not be seen as mere quantitative issues but as a qualitative result of the irrational and unjust nature of the existing system of economic policies. Unemployment, lack of opportunity, insecurity, hopelessness are the terms that could well define the living conditions of a great part of the people of this country.

This should be an affront to our collective conscience. It is an imperative need of our time to be aware of these realities, because of what a situation affecting the great majority of our people entails in terms of human suffering and the squandering of life and intelligence.

The cold eloquence of these figures is in itself terrifying enough. But beyond them lies the tragic situation of the effects of unemployment that is individualised a thousand times over.

Haggai Chishimba, who was retrenched from Mopani Copper Mines on Monday, says he doesn’t know what to do: “Why should the government contradict itself? Today it says it’s going to stop pruning and the next day the investor does something else. I don’t know what to do next because the Copperbelt depends on the copper mines. We have got loans with Barclays and Barclays is getting everything.”

O’brien Musenge who was retrenched while on shift says “workers should be given time to prepare their exit other than an immediate effect pruning”.

A culture which recognises the eminent dignity of the worker will emphasise the subjective dimension of work. The value of any human work does not depend on the kind of work done; it is based on the fact that one who does it is a person. There we have an ethical criterion whose implications cannot be overlooked.

Thus every person has a right to work, and this right must be recognised in a practical way by an effective commitment to solving the tragic problem of unemployment. The fact that unemployment keeps large sectors of our population, and notably the young, in a situation of marginalisation is intolerable. For this reason, the creation of jobs is a primary social task facing individuals and private enterprise, as well as the government. As a general rule, in this as in other matters, the government has a subsidiary function; but often it can be called upon to intervene directly.

The priority of work over capital places an obligation in justice upon employers to consider the welfare of workers before the increase of profits. They have a moral obligation not to keep capital unproductive and in making investments to think first of the common good. The latter requires a prior effort to consolidate jobs or to create new ones. The right to private property is inconceivable without responsibilities to the common good. It is subordinated to the higher principle which states that goods are meant for all.

There is need for solidarity with the workers who are being retrenched on the Copperbelt and elsewhere, and all those whose jobs are threatened. Solidarity is a direct requirement of human and supernatural brotherhood. The serious socioeconomic problems that our country is facing today cannot be solved unless new fronts of solidarity are created: solidarity of the poor among themselves, solidarity with the poor to which the rich are called, solidarity among the workers, and with the workers. Institutions and social organisations at all levels, as well as the government, must share in a general movement of solidarity. And when we appeal for such solidarity, we are aware that we ourselves are concerned in a quite special way.

The gravity of the current challenges demand strong leadership from key players in our economy and the responses we seek should not only be about “the here and now” but should be geared towards shaping the future we all seek to build – a more just, fair and humane Zambia.

It cannot be denied that we are today caught in the global financial crisis, although initially our Minister of Finance Situmbeko Musokotwane had assured that Zambia will not be affected by this crisis.

The current global economic crisis started as a financial problem in the developed countries. But due to globalisation and the disproportional economic power relations, the impact of the financial crisis in the United States and Europe spread to the rest of the world and we are today affected by it.

Bold steps need to be taken to find sustainable responses to the global challenges, most of which are not of our making. We need to develop sector specific strategies and concrete action plans to respond to this global economic meltdown. We have to realise that the effects of this crisis differ from country to country.

For us, this economic crisis just compounded the negative effects of the food and fuel crisis that manifested itself earlier in 2008.

With limited resources, this crisis just puts more pressure on our people to tighten our belts in ensuring that the poor and the vulnerable do not end up absolving the shocks of this economic crisis alone.

We now desperately need a better strategy to mitigate contagion from the global financial crisis and its adverse impact on the real economy of our country.

The thrust of our response framework should revolve around strategies to cushion the impact of the crisis on job losses, particularly for the poor and vulnerable. The vicious cycle of this impact on investment – both private and public – on jobs and on government’s social programmes is what our response framework should seek to offset. This calls for an intensive strategy to target sectors that are vulnerable to the current economic crisis.

We therefore need to ensure that the negative impact of the slowdown on the poor and the most vulnerable is mitigated. The measures we seek to put in place should embrace elements that promote economic growth and sustainable businesses, assist and protect workers and the vulnerable and assist our country meet its developmental objectives.

We need social solidarity among and between all Zambians to ensure that the crisis does not damage the fabric of our society. Those with greater means have a responsibility to those without such means. Our collective responsibility should be to work together to withstand the crisis and ensure that the poor and the most vulnerable are protected as far as possible from its impact. We must also ensure that the economy is ready to take advantage of the next upturn and that the benefits of such growth are shared by all our people.

But as Mopani Copper Mines retrenchee Chishimba has correctly observed, our government leaders have been contradicting themselves from the very beginning on these issues. They started with a denial that Zambia will not be affected by this crisis. They still live in denial. They are every day contradicting themselves on the impact and effects of this crisis. It’s time they came to terms with this situation and its realities. As we have stated before, no problem has ever been solved until it has become a tangible reality which everyone is aware of. Our leaders seem to be at sea and their own discernible preoccupation right now is involvement in corrupt procurement deals.

We shouldn’t cheat ourselves that this struggle is going to be an easy one; it is going to be a lot more complex one than all the others our country has waged and as such demands much more subtle grasp of strategy and tactical awareness. And we are not seeing any of this from our political leaders, especially from President Rupiah Banda himself. All that Rupiah is doing is to engage in endless ceremonial activities and merriment as if he is a titular head of state and not an executive president.

It is said that progress and success is but given to those who continue to win it back through struggle. Mobilise and organise all those around you to play a role in saving jobs and preparing to participate in the efforts to create decent work.

Labels: JOBLOSSES, MCM, MINING, MOPANI

posted by MrK @ 10:04 PM