Maravi

PF is no haven for criminal

PF is no haven for criminal
By Kombe Chimpinde
Wed 08 Aug. 2012, 11:30 CAT

THE Patriotic Front is not a haven for criminals from other political parties, warns Wynter Kabimba. Kabimba said the party had observed that some former MMD members, who had committed crimes while the MMD was still in power and were covered by it, think now that the PF is in power, they would go to the ruling party and have their crimes covered by the party.

Kabimba, the PF secretary general, sounded the warning at a PF/labour union symposium held in Lusaka yesterday.

He said the PF was willing to receive new members and those defecting from other political parties should be ready to subscribe to the values and norms of the PF.

"We want to reconstruct this country. We want to have a country of decent men and women. We want to have a country of selfless leaders. We want to have a country of leaders that shall come into public life to come and serve the people of Zambia," he said.

Kabimba said there was an impression that when the PF talked about corruption, it was only referring to the MMD or to the politicians that served under the former regime.

"Corruption is a challenge even in our own party as PF and if we don't fight this cancer even within PF, corruption is going to eat our very fabric and norms of our party and we shall fail to deliver to the people of Zambia," he warned.

"We have reached a point now where we are not short of members. We are looking for clean members. We just don't want any member. I would love to make this point clear," he said.

On the killing of a Chinese supervisor at Collum Coal Mine in Sinazongwe by Zambian workers, Kabimba called for dialogue on the minimum wage policy between the employers and employees.

"The position of the party is that the (revised) minimum wages and conditions of service is law now and can only be open to dialogue between the employers and employees. It is dialogue that will develop our country, not confrontations or workers taking the law into their own hands. That is not what will give them more money," Kabimba said.

And Federation for Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Simukoko said employers' resistance to new minimum wage was tantamount to greed.

"We hear some labour leaders saying we were not consulted, they are talking against the minimum wage. How can a labour leader talk against the minimum wage?" she asked.

"I have been in the labour movement for a long time. There was never a time where when you are negotiating the employers would say 'I am comfortable'. The minimum wage must stand and in fact, it is law."

"How can you allow a worker to be suppressed in your country at the expense of foreign investors? We are warning and cautioning the PF government that you can never rule the country minus the support of workers."
Simukoko also called for a balance in the promotion of interests of employees and employers by the government.

"Casualisation must stop. There should be social security, and 'corporate greed' should be stopped. Workers want decent work and decent pay," she said.
At the same symposium, Fredrick Ebert Stiftung resident director, Heiner Naumann, reminded the PF that implementation of the "more money in your pockets" and "more jobs" campaign policy that had gained popularity beyond the borders of Zambia was a mammoth task.

Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) called for a stop to exploitation of workers who did not have a voice to avoid upheavals in the labour industry.

Labels: CORRUPTION, MMD, PF, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 3:10 PM