Maravi

‘Chiluba should not capitalise on mine workers’ problems’’

‘Chiluba should not capitalise on mine workers’ problems’’
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Mon 22 Feb. 2010, 03:50 CAT

MINEWORKERS Union of Zambia (MUZ) secretary general Oswell Munyenyembe has asked Frederick Chiluba not to capitalise on the problems facing former mineworkers on the Copperbelt to campaign for President Rupiah Banda.

Commenting on the decision by former miners to appoint Chiluba as their representative to government over their unpaid benefits, Munyenyembe said the former president should not have a say on matters of governance because he failed to attend to the plight of poor ex-miners when he was president.

Munyenyembe said Chiluba should not be given chance to manipulate ex-miners because he failed to pay them their terminal benefits when MUZ started to push for their payments in 2000.

“We started pressurising government over the unsettled ex-miners benefits since 2000 when Chiluba was president of the Republic, he failed to pay them. Why should he be given chance to cheat poor people? We know it’s one way of trying to campaign for Rupiah, we won’t allow him,” Munyenyembe said.

Munyenyembe said Chiluba should not use poor ex-miners he condemned to misery when he was president to pursue his selfish agenda and that the labour movement was ready to stop him.

“It’s sad to note that government has continued to delay the payment of benefits to some ex-miners for the sake of engaging Chiluba and they are waiting for 2011 campaigns.

You cannot use Chiluba for campaigns, he brought a lot of misery to the people, he should just keep quiet and leave the poor alone,” he said.

Munyenyembe said although ex-miners were no longer members of MUZ, the union had continued to speak for them and to protect their interests.

Munyenyembe appealed to the former miners not to engange Chiluba in their issue because he created their problems and failed to address them when he was Republican president.

And Chingola Patriotic Front (PF) member of parliament Dr Joseph Katema charged that Chiluba brought a lot of harm than good in his 10 years in office as Republican president.

In an interview in Chingola on Monday, Dr Katema said Chiluba was a liability to Zambia and should not be given chance to manipulate Zambians again.

Dr Katema said Chiluba had no moral right to speak on matters of national interest because he brought a lot of harm during his reign.

He said all well-meaning Zambians must strongly condemn and stop the unholy alliance between President Banda and Chiluba because if left unchecked, the two would create another scandal that would consequently bring more misery to the lives of the people.

Dr Katema wondered why Chiluba was being entertained in the political arena when the law did not allow him to actively participate in politics as a former president.

“Chiluba should not be an issue in the country’s political dispensation because it’s him who pushed this issue of restraining former presidents from participating in active politics and today it’s law. I don’t know why he wants to provoke the people. Let him keep quiet, he has caused enough pain in the lives of many,” he said.

Dr Katema said the privatisation policy initiated by Chiluba brought damage to the country’s economic and social well-being because it was not a thought-through initiative but a hurriedly implemented programme that benefited the minority and brought misery to the majority poor.

Dr Katema also blamed Chiluba for the dilapidated public infrastructure on the Copperbelt because of his privatisation programme that was mismanaged.

“Why didn’t he implement whatever he is telling the nation today when he was president? He came to the Copperbelt recently and told people that he came to collect information about the challenges they were facing for further transmission to RB. There is no structure in the governance system of this country called Chiluba, so he should leave the people alone,” he said.

Dr Katema said Zambians should not easily forget that Chiluba destroyed the health sector beyond recognition when he introduced what he called voluntary separation and encouraged civil servants in this sector to get huge chunks of money and most of them simply looted the sector and left the country.

“As PF we have thrown him in a political dust bin because he destroyed sensitive sectors such as the health sector. After his voluntary separation policy, people got money and left the country leaving the sector vulnerable and a lot of people died because of his weird decisions,” he said.

Dr Katema said Zambians must be able to stand up and resist the political alliance between President Banda and Chiluba because it was not up to any good for the country.

Labels: CHILUBA, MINERS, MUZ, OSWELL MUNYENYEMBE

posted by MrK @ 6:13 PM