Kambwili's removal from labour should serve as a warning to other ministers - Mutati

Kambwili's removal from labour should serve as a warning to other ministers - Mutati
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe and Brina Manenga
Mon 06 Feb. 2012, 12:59 CAT

THE removal of Chishimba Kambwili from the Ministry of Labour should serve as a warning to other ministers that excitement does not pay, says Felix Mutati. And Mutati says commerce minister Bob Sichinga is contradicting finance minister Alexander Chikwanda by claiming that the fallen MMD regime printed K3 trillion 'illegal' notes from China.

Last Friday, President Michael Sata delinked the sports segment from the Ministry of Labour after Kambwili ran a series of attacks on key industry owners whom he accused of disrespecting and flouting labour laws in the country.

Kambwili, who last month was removed from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after diplomats accredited to Zambia complained about his lack of diplomatic etiquette, has been confined to sports and youths affairs.

Commenting on the development, Mutati, who is also opposition chief whip, said there was need to maintain level-headedness and consistency among top government ministers.

"Other ministers should be able to learn from what has happened that excitement doesn't pay," Mutati said in an interview.

"What is crucial is to be reflective in the pursuit of delivery to the people of Zambia and that you cannot articulate and formulate policies as you walk about but through an informed and researched stakeholder basis."

And Youth Assembly Zambia has commended President Sata for detaching the Ministry of Labour from sport.

In an interview, YAZ secretary general David Musonda said the detaching of labour from sport has shown that President Sata was passionate about maintaining a friendly atmosphere with investors in the country.

"President Sata has shown that he is someone who cares about investor confidence in the country. What we need is someone who is going to make sure that issues of labour are sorted out in a way that will not keep investors from investing in our country that needs more investments," said Musonda.

Meanwhile, Mutati advised Sichinga to confine himself to issues of commerce, trade and industry to avoid misleading the nation.

Mutati said there was never illegal money printed by the Bank of Zambia during the MMD regime, and that was confirmed by Chikwanda.

"If you recall during the last sitting of Parliament, the Minister of Finance indicated that the banknotes are not an illegal tender," he said.

"So that chapter was closed and the country regained confidence in the currency that was in circulation and continued to use it as legal tender. So, from the opposition perspective, our concern is that we are being told that there is over K3 trillion when in actual fact the minister of finance said otherwise. This is a clear contradiction on a key national policy and it impacts on financial stability...So the government must tell us which minister is telling the truth. They must clarify."

On December 9, 2011, Chikwanda told Parliament that although BoZ violated the public procurement Act in awarding German company Giesecke and Devrient to print new kwacha notes, the banknotes were not illegal tender.

Mutati said the growing inconsistency on key policy pronouncements among government ministers was depressing investor confidence and confusing the general populous.

He said there was need for the PF government to work at building its image among local and international investors to attract large Foreign Direct Investments to make a dent on the high unemployment and poverty levels in the country.

"The general sense we are getting from investors, particularly with investors whether in or outside Zambia, is that the unrest that are taking place in the labour market are creating significant uncertainty," said Mutati who is also Lunte MMD member of parliament.

"When you have local investors worried, it even becomes more for those that are outside the country because investors talk to each other.

"Sometimes it's not what the government says but the conversation they have got with those that have already invested."