FFTUZ opposes merger of unions
By Isaac Zulu in Kapiri Mposhi
Wed 06 Mar. 2013, 14:00 CAT
FEDERATION of Free Trade Unions of Zambia President Joyce Nonde-Simukoko says she does not support the idea of merging unions to form one labour movement to represent workers in the country.
Nonde-Simukoko said the proposal for the amalgamation of trade unions was not the answer to the various challenges that the labour movement was facing.
There have been calls from some sections of society for unions in Zambia to merge in order to strengthen their voice in representing workers.
But speaking during the launch of the Crews and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CRAWUZ) which is a splinter union from the Workers Union of TAZARA in Kapiri Mposhi on Monday, Nonde-Simukoko said there was no legal provision to support the calls.
She said that the Constitution allowed workers to belong and form unions of their choice.
She said trade unions were voluntary associations and were not competitors.
"Workers have constitutional right to belong to any union of their choice… it is not that because we have many unions that is making us fail to effectively represent our members but the selfishness in the leadership of some these unions and the lack of understanding of some of our members on why they belong to unions," Simukoko said. "Workers have the right to freedom of association.
Freedom of association is here to stay because this is a constitutional right. People are free to form and join unions of their own choice. This thing of saying 'one industry one union must come back will not go anywhere. It will never come back!"
She said there was need for the workers and union leaders to acquaint themselves with the country's labour laws for them to appreciate the role of trade unions.
CRAWUZ is affiliated to FFTUZ and, unlike WUTAZ which is an affiliate of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), has garnered membership from employees working in the railways industry in Zambia.
Meanwhile, Nonde-Simukoko challenged workers in the newly formed union to observe work place rules and regulations and work hard for them to rightly claim their entitlements.
She noted that it would not suffice for the workers to abrogate labour regulations and at the same time ask to be remunerated and their interests attended to by their respective railway companies.
"We need to change our work culture, to observe work ethics, not to neglect duty but to put in our best so that even as we bargain we will have a justification," Nonde-Simukoko said. "We shall not protect any worker who will be found intentionally breaking rules and regulations."
Nonde-Simukoko also bemoaned the delayed payment of salaries at TAZARA.
"Management, delayed payment of salaries should be a thing of the past," she said. "This delayed payment of salaries is a violation of workers' rights."
And CRAWUZ president Bevis Silumbwe said the workers resolved to branch off from WUTAZ to form their own union because of inadequate representation by their former union.
Silumbwe said WUTAZ failed to effectively represent the workers, resulting in TAZARA management to willfully exploit workers.
He said workers' salaries delay for months and most workers have faced unlawful suspensions, charges and threats of dismissals, issues that WUTAZ had failed to address.
"We wrote to ZCTU that WUTAZ has excessively failed to fight for the workers' plight which resulted in the management to introduce unfavourable conditions of service but to no avail, so we decided to proceed to the philosophy that if you can't beat them, you leave them… hence the formation of CRAWUZ and affiliating it to FFTUZ which we feel will address our plight," Silumbwe said.
The union pledged to support and work with TAZARA management and government in finding lasting solutions to the challenges to the railway industry in Zambia.
The formation of CRAWUZ came into effect after the signing of a recognition agreement with TAZARA management last year.
And TAZARA operations manager Philimon Munthali noted that the common work stoppages at the railway company were counterproductive.
Munthali hoped the formation of another workers' union would lessen the work stoppages at TAZARA and engage management in resolving all labour related disputes amicably.
Labels: FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE-SIMUKOKO, RAIL, TAZARA, TRADE UNIONS
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Sata seeks credible investors
By Mwala Kalaluka in Geneva, Switzerland
Sat 09 June 2012, 12:59 CAT
PRESIDENT Michael Sata says foreign investors wanting to invest in Africa should possess traceable investment credentials in their home countries before they put money into the continent's business sector.
And Swiss-Africa Business Community president Anthony Travis says President Sata is a very business-friendly leader who has created an opportunity for continued business-related interactions between the private sector-driven organisation and Zambia.
Meanwhile, Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia president Joyce Nonde-Simukoko says the country's labour was currently enjoying a good-working relationship with the government compared to the difficulties it had with the previous MMD government.
During a meeting with members of the Swiss-Africa Business Community held at the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva yesterday, President Sata urged foreign investors to know the areas where they wanted to invest in well.
"Unless you know the area where you want to invest well, your investment becomes safe," President Sata said. "What you need first of all…people need to invest in their own countries, once they invest in their own country, then that becomes a springboard."
President Sata said Zambians would question every investment that comes into the country from outside and that foreigner investors that do not have traceable investment credentials in their countries of origin would be lost once they are exposed to this scrutiny.
President Sata assured the business plethora that Zambia had lots of investment advantages as the government would ensure that it guarantees the exportation of any honest investor's dividends.
"This is not common in many countries," said President Sata in a discussion that was punctuated by light moments where he even spoke Swahili with some SABC members from Burundi and Tanzania.
"Commerce used to be very attractive. It is no longer that attractive. You have capital investments. Now a place like Switzerland, I expected to find Credit Suisse, they are not here."
President Sata said following discussions with a team from Credit Suisse, the bank was intent on extending its operations to Zambia.
"The people who used to come and hide money here Switzerland they are no more. With the fight against corruption, there is very little money that is being hidden here," President Sata said.
President Sata said with Zambia's land mass, foreign investors could invest in anything and that this could ultimately address the problem of unemployment.
"At the moment Africans, not Europeans, are suffering from very high unemployment," President Sata said.
"We are working very hard. I have managed to reduce our inflation."
President Sata said failure to reactivate business in Africa would make it hard for governments to create employment.
President Sata told agriculture minister Emmanuel Chenda that the Swiss-Africa Business Community were not interested in statistics about Africa because they had plenty of that but that they were keen to know if they would be received once they venture into Zambia.
"You come to Zambia, you will never walk alone," said Chenda as the whole meeting burst into laughter.
President Sata also told information, labour and broadcasting minister Fackson Shamenda to say something on the concerns on wild strikes in Africa.
Shamenda said the government and the labour sector were enjoying cordial relations.
"Where there are usually strikes, it is because of lack of dialogue," Shamenda said.
"We will provide the environment in which labour and capital dialogue. The labour market as far as Zambia is concerned, there is no problem."
Foreign affairs and tourism minister Given Lubinda said time to invest in Zambia was now, more so that a bigger chunk of the country's tourist sites remains unexplored.
And when called upon by the President to make some comments during the meeting, Nonde-Simukoko, who is also Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers, said there had been no recorded strike in the banking sector in the past 10 years.
"We have improved dialogue," Nonde-Simukoko said. "We have very good relations with government, especially the PF government. We had difficulties with the MMD government I must say."
But Nonde-Simukoko said the country's labour movement does not believe in the exploitation of its members, who she described as very friendly and obedient workers.
However, when told by President Sata that some of the business people in the room were scared about the spread of Chinese investment on the continent, Nonde-Simukoko said there were some social barrier issues relating to Chinese investment that required to be addressed.
"Chinese are good people, can you tell them about the Chinese?" President Sata asked Nonde-Simukoko.
"Language has been a problem," she said. "We have complained to our government that this must be addressed…we have observed that they are hardworking. It is the issue of social dialogue which we have found to be very difficult for us."
Zambia Federation of Employers ZFE executive director Harrington Chibanda also confirmed that the labour movement and the government were enjoying a cordial working relationship, creating a safe investment ambience.
On the issue of the Chinese, President Sata said Chinese investors despite being slightly expensive than some other contractors were now under control by being subjected to strict rules and that they were reliable in terms of undertaking projects in the outlying areas.
"We can't do without them," President Sata said. "When you come to Zambia, bring trade delegations so that you win the war by spying not by guns."
President Sata called on the business group to partner with the government and establish a national airline.
"You can't have a country like Zambia without an airline," said President Sata.
And Travis said the meeting with President Sata was very positive and that the President was a business-friendly leader who specified out the issues on Zambia's investment potential to the business community.
Travis, who will be leading a business delegation to Kenya next week, said his group had an unbiased approach to investing on the African continent but that the meeting with President Sata had removed Zambia from being one of the 54 countries with a question mark, paving an avenue for continued investment dialogue.
Labels: FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE-SIMUKOKO, MICHAEL SATA
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Unions are negotiating under duress - FFTUZ
By Kabanda Chulu
Mon 26 Mar. 2012, 11:58 CAT
TRADE unions are negotiating under duress unless government amends the industrial and labour relations Act that currently empowers employers to withdraw recognition agreement from a trade union by application to government, says FFTUZ national secretary Lyson Mando.
Speaking at the ZUFIAW professional negotiators' forum, whose objective was sharpening the skills of negotiators and building their knowledge base and expertise, Mando on Friday challenged the government to put in place labour reforms which recognise fundamental rights such as the right to join a trade union of employees' choice, right to collective bargaining and freedom to organise.
"These rights were diluted in 2008 by the MMD government which amended the Act to empower employers to initiate the process of withdrawing recognition agreement from a trade union by application to government. This sad development has resulted in compromising the power relations in the bargaining process as trade unions are currently negotiating under duress," Mando said.
"Employers are engaging in the take-it-or-leave-it mode of bargaining instead of the traditional give-and-take mode, and this is resulting in delays in concluding collective agreements."
He said the other amendment to the industrial and labour relations Act empowers the government to interfere in the trade union leadership by means of dissolving a duly elected union executive on suspicion of financial impropriety.
"This action is taken without regard to appropriate trade union structures where leadership is constitutionally accountable to. FFTUZ has been lobbying the new government to find ways of restoring the lost rights and we are hopeful the process initiated by the PF government in consultation with ILO to realign Zambian labour laws with international labour standards will soon be concluded and enacted into law so that Zambian workers are not subjected to poor wages and conditions of service."
And ZUFIAW president Cephas Mukuka urged Bank of Zambia Governor Dr Michael Gondwe to build on the spirit of mutual consultations and dialogue that was started by his predecessor Dr Caleb Fundanga.
"We have previously provided the central bank with informed insights about unsound activities in the banking sector which led to corrective measures being taken in time to save the industry. When workers fail to be whistle-blowers, what follows is the destruction of jobs and livelihoods due to corporate failures arising from greed," said Mukuka.
Labels: CEPHAS MUKUKA, FFTUZ, LYSON MANDO, UNIONS, ZUFIAW
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FFTUZ president commends PF
By George Chellah
Sun 10 July 2011, 12:01 CAT
FEDERATION of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde-Simukoko has congratulated and commended the PF for holding a peaceful general conference. In statement, Nonde-Simukoko applauded the PF over its recently held party general conference in Kabwe.
“On behalf of the executive board and the affiliates of FFTUZ, we wish to congratulate the Patriotic Front (PF) for this timely and democratic exercise as we head to the forthcoming general and presidential elections for our country,” Nonde-Simukoko stated.
“We further wish to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Michael Sata for going through unopposed as party president for the PF and indeed all other candidates that were elected in various portfolios by the congress.”
She also congratulated and commended the PF and its supporters for the peaceful manner in which they conducted the affairs at the general conference.
“It is of course our wish as a labour movement that other remaining political parties aspiring to contest in this year’s elections will as well follow suit and ensure they too hold similar democratic conventions,” Nonde-Simukoko stated.
“In order to allow their followers exercise their rights to choose their party leaders in the same vein the rest of the country’s voters will exercise their rights at election time. This is a good stride for democracy.”
Labels: FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE-SIMUKOKO, PF
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FFTUZ bemoans workers' perpetual tax burden
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Mon 11 Oct. 2010, 14:00 CAT
FEDERATION for Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde-Simukoko has said Zambian workers will continue going through the anguish of being overtaxed. Commenting on the 2011 budget presented to Parliament on Friday by finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane, Nonde-Simukoko said the budget had clearly indicated that formal workers would continue carrying the heavy burden of paying tax.
She said the increment in Pay As You Earn (PAYE) exempt threshold from K800,000 to K1,000,000 would never be felt because the relief was too little. Nonde-Simukoko said the government had failed to broaden the tax base to capture the informal sector and foreign investors who had been placed on tax holiday.
“Our expectations were that the Minister of Finance will explore ways of ensuring that the informal sector is captured in terms of revenue collection because we have been calling on government to broaden the tax base for a long time now. We have investors who have been on tax holiday for a long time and they are making a lot of money and externalising their profits and government is doing nothing. So workers in the country will continue going through the anguish of being overtaxed,” Nonde-Simukoko said.
She said it would be difficult for the labour movement in the country to negotiate properly for salary increments because of the government’s failure to give reasonable tax relief to workers in the formal sector.
Nonde-Simukoko said it was disappointing that the government had failed to give tangible reasons why it was finding it difficult to broaden the tax base and to give sufficient relief to workers in the country.
She said the only way Zambians would get meaningful empowerment was by broadening the tax base and giving enough relief to workers who were currently being heavily taxed.
Nonde-Simukoko further said workers in the education sector were owed huge sums of money by the government but the allocation for domestic debt was not enough.
Labels: FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE-SIMUKOKO, LABOUR, NEOLIBERALISM, TAXATION
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‘It’s selfishness to tell workers to keep away from politics’
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Mon 29 Mar. 2010, 04:00 CAT
FEDERATION of Free Trade Unions of Zambia FFTUZ national executive secretary Lyson Mando has said it is selfishness for politicians to tell workers to keep away from politics. And ZCTU president Leonard Hikaumba has called for unity of purpose among labour movements.
During a special workshop on capacity building skills of labour movements at Luangwa House in Chipata on Saturday, Mando said the labour movement must be seen to get involved in the governance of the country.
“You recall that we are being told by politicians that workers keep away from politics. That is selfishness isn’t it, because before independence, it is the workers that were in the forefront of fighting for independence. You recall the Lawrence Katilungus and others. When UNIP took over and when Zambians said enough is enough, it is again the labour movement that played the change in 1990/91,” Mando said.
“Even today we must be seen to get involved in the governance issues because labour matters are nothing but politics and if labour matters are nothing but politics, why should we have ZCTU on this side and FFTUZ on this side?”
And Hikaumba called for unity among the labour movements in the country.
He said the main objective of the labour unions was to safeguard and promote the interest of the workers.
“We have to be united as a labour movement because if we are not united, we shall not achieve what we want. Let us not be selfish by wanting to get things for ourselves without regards for the others,” he said.
Hikaumba urged the people who were in attendance to share with others what they would learn at the workshop for the unions to tick.
Zambia Water and Sanitation Engineering and Allied Workers Union vice -president Charles Phiri said a fragmented labour movement could not have more power in bargaining for workers.
He suggested that the unions should engage into serious talks about forming one labour movement in the country.
Labels: FFTUZ, LYSON MANDO, MMD
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FFTUZ ticks off Rupiah’s one year in office
By Margaret Habbuno
Tue 03 Nov. 2009, 15:58 CAT
President Rupiah Banda’s twelve months in office is nothing to talk home about because no economic development has taken place, FREDRATION of Free Trade Unions in Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde-Simukoko has said.
In an interview on Monday to mark President Banda’s one year in office, Simukoko said President Banda had done nothing to address the economic challenges that the country was facing.
“It is difficult to pin point what the President has done in his one year rule because he has failed to deliver for the people of Zambia,” she said. “If you look at the campaign massage that he put across, he had promised to follow the Mwanawasa legacy of which he has failed.”
She said the country doesn’t even know the kind of governance programme he had which made it impossible for the public to figure out what he had done for the country. Simukoko said it was sad that President Banda could not stop the privatisation of Zamtel.
“There is really nothing to say about his rule.The other one that he is likely to cripple is the media fraternity which he intends to give statutory regulation an idea several stakeholders are against,” said Simukoko.
Labels: FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE, RUPIAH BANDA
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Apologise to Catholic Church, FFTUZ advises Shikapwasha
Written by Margaret Habbuno
Monday, August 31, 2009 3:50:03 PM
FEDERATION of Free Trade Unions in Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Simukoko has observed that it is sad that the government views criticism from the Catholic Church in a negative way. Simukoko said it was also sad that Zambian leaders believed that leadership is about being arrogant.
"Government should look at what the Catholic Church is advising them about and learn to amend where it has been told to work on. If the Catholic Church points out irregularities, they should amend them and not respond by insulting the church the way [information minister Lieutenant General Ronnie] Shikapawasha did in Parliament," Simukoko said in an interview last Tuesday.
"The leaders in government have misinterpreted leadership by saying one has to be arrogant if you are a minister or hold higher position in government. This kind of attitude is very bad in a democracy like Zambia."
She said a leader should be humble and choose the kind of words to use to society.
"Honourable Shikapwasha should just think through and apologise to the Catholic Church because he will not lose anything by so doing," she said.
Simukoko observed that there had been calls for Lt Gen Shikapwasha to apologise to the Catholic Church for his remarks on the genocide in Rwanda and the role which he claimed the church played in the massacre in that country.
However, she said Lt Gen Shikapwasha had not been brave enough to swallow his pride.
"What kind of a reverend is he who doesn't want to apologise to the Catholic Church? He is not even remorseful over the insults he made in Parliament. There have been a lot of messages from a cross section of society urging him to apologise but it seems he has failed to swallow his pride. I would like to tell Honourable Shikapwasha never to step a foot in any Catholic Church in the country or appear near it because he has failed to relate with the church," Simukoko said.
Simukoko also wondered whether Lt Gen Shikapwasha was a true reverend.
"If he was a true reverend, he would have convened a meeting with the Catholic Church. This is a sad situation where you have a reverend who calls himself a Christian but does things that are totally different from Christianity," said Simukoko. "He should have apologised to the nation because those insults were directed to all the Catholics in the country. If you offend someone, it is good to apologise and make peace with people as a leader."
On August 7, Lt Gen Shikapwasha attacked the Catholic Church in Parliament in his ministerial statement on the violence against journalists in the country. Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the church in Rwanda blindly took sides in opposing camps such that it was reported that after a century of Christian proselytisation, the country was Catholicised and not Christianised. He claimed that ritual was followed but the spirit was missing and that this tragically became evident for the church after April to May 1994. Lt Gen Shikapwasha said: "its people slaughtered their brethren wholesale inside the churches on orders from civil authorities and priests. This Mr Speaker is because the church took sides with men. The church must take sides with God. I see that the church in Zambia is taking sides rather than taking sides with God."
Lt Gen Shikapwasha also claimed that the church was "busy with trying to jostle for who they should put into State House, forgetting their mandate. Others are dishing out second hand clothing in the campaign for the pact, others feel if a person does not belong to a certain political party, they are not Christian enough Mr Speaker all this used to happen in Rwanda before the genocide. The church failed in Rwanda 25 priests have so far been imprisoned for genocide".
Labels: CATHOLIC CHURCH, FFTUZ, JOYCE SIMUKOKO, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA
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COMMENT - Joyce Nonde for Finance Minister. She has my vote. :)
“Investors believe they are safer engaging casual labour as pensionable jobs may prove costly when the businesses no longer remain profitable and many parastatal companies are failing to restructure operations due to the huge compensation packages associated with downsising,” said Kanyama.
It is time the Zambian government became serious about governing. Pensions should be universal, and have nothing to do with employment - and the way to do that is to let all companies pay their pension to the state - through taxes. There are few enough old people around, so that is more than economically feasible.
FFTUZ condemns Kanyama on laws to impress investors
Written by Kabanda Chulu
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 3:06:11 PM
THE Federation of Free Trade Unions in Zambia (FFTUZ) yesterday condemned Lusaka economist Chibamba Kanyama for calling for laws that will impress investors.
On Monday,
Kanyama said the government should urgently revise the Act governing redundancy packages to reflect investor challenges.
But FFTUZ president
Joyce Nonde-Simukoko said in Lusaka that it was shocking and annoying to see Kanyama thinking along those lines.
“Our members are annoyed and shocked and Zambia should not be compared to other economies that are doing well since workers already are getting low packages and they have no opportunity to enhance their livelihoods under the current pensions Act,î Nonde-Simukoko said. ìIt is shocking to see our brother (Kanyama) thinking in those lines by calling for laws that will impress greedy investors.”
She said pension schemes and redundancy packages had been abused and even those who got benefits were thrown into abject poverty.
“Any redundancy package in this country has been abused even at Presidential level this is why the benefits are pegged at the incumbentís (sitting President) salary and conditions of service because these issues have been abused in Zambia and why are we enemies of ourselves by calling for laws to impress investors who are involved in capital flight and even when the environment is good and incentives given, they do not employ people on full-time,” Nonde-Simukoko said.
“So the issue of the economic crisis does not arise because investors are greedy and exploitative in nature, for example, when copper prices reached higher levels, they never considered Zambians as full time workers.”
She said the failure by mining companies to pay good redundancy packages was corporate greed and fraud that should not be allowed to continue.
“Investors are businessmen with a motive for profit, hence looking for loopholes like what our brother is proposing, these investors are greedy and are involved in corporate fraud, for instance, if there is no money to pay workers why are they spending so much to appease politicians by making donations at the expense of hard-working employees?” asked Nonde-Simukoko.
In his weekly commentary, Kanyama said the current redundancy packages Act had many challenges and had rendered the country uncompetitive for investments in the region.
He said many companies preferred to hire casual workers even when they had the capacity to engage pensionable jobs due to the high level of uncertainty in the investment climate.
“Investors believe they are safer engaging casual labour as pensionable jobs may prove costly when the businesses no longer remain profitable and many parastatal companies are failing to restructure operations due to the huge compensation packages associated with downsising,” said Kanyama.
Labels: CHIBAMBA KANYAMA, FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE
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Release Zambian Airways probe report, FFTUZ challenges govt
Written by Katwishi Bwalya
Wednesday, April 08, 2009 4:51:26 PM
FEDERATION of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) vice-president Charles Phiri has given a 48-hour ultimatum to the government to release its findings of The Post dealings with Zambian Airways.
In an interview yesterday, Phiri said the failure by the government to publicise its findings would force Zambians to conclude that the allegations against The Post were all lies.
He said the investigations had taken long to be concluded and that Zambians were anxious to know the truth.
"Let the government come up with what they have investigated, we want to know as interested parties. And as Zambians within the next 48 hours, government must come up with a report over what they have found out because we are all anxious," Phiri said. "If there would be nothing that is coming up in the next 48 hours then we are concluding that it has been all lies because this government is full of lies and cheats."
He said the silence on the investigations was a clear sign that the people alleged to have been involved in wrongdoing were innocent.
"The long silence in our view is clear indication that The Post and its directors including Mr. [Mutembo] Nchito are not guilty of what Rupiah Banda and his colleagues are talking about the misappropriation of US $30 million," he said. "The investigations that were instituted, everyone of us who are interested in the happenings in this country, we were looking forward to a very quick and expeditious investigation and the outcome of those investigations. Now it is quiet. In our opinion, there is really nothing that The Post has committed especially with its managing director Mr Fred M'membe and Mutembo Nchito, they have not committed anything because if you want to investigate even at the police station they are only allowed two days to investigate and come up with evidence and take the person to court."
Phiri said the labour movement was disappointed that the government wanted to suppress its opponents through threats.
"We feel very disappointed that government in its quest to pursue opponents is targeting institutions like The Post and Zambian Airways to try and incriminate people so that they silence people who are speaking on behalf of the silent majority," Phiri said. "Government should not be targeting institutions simply because they have got problems with the people that are running those institutions. We are worried that the results have taken long and it is not only one wing of government that has been investigating. I am sure all the security wings of government have been involved in these investigations and we are wondering as to why they are failing to finalise the outcome of whatever they investigated so that the people of Zambia and indeed all the stakeholders interested in hearing the outcome are given the results."
Phiri said justice delayed was justice denied.
"As the labour movement, we are saying can we know what has happened to Zambian Airways through those investigations otherwise we are wasting our time investigating things which are not even there. We are supposed to be investigating real issues of plunder, of cheating, of stealing government resources as reported in the Auditor General's report; not people and not just people we are just suspecting because they have different views from us as politicians," said Phiri "Should the government fail to publish the findings then we are going to conclude that the allegations made against The Post were all lies and we will not trust people who will be telling the nation lies because when there are allegations, they must be probed and the results must come forward. Cases must be prosecuted in the courts of law and people must go straight to the courts of law and let justice save its course.
"The Post can't be silenced. We are living in a liberalised economy. It will be taking the country 25 years backwards. We will be going back to the UNIP era. We as Zambians we can't allow such a situation to happen to silence the media."
http://www.postzambia.com/content/view/7167/
Cuba doesn’t fear dialogue with US, says Fidel
Written by Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba
CUBA does not fear dialogue with the United States, former president Fidel Castro has said. Fidel said the Cuban revolution does not need the confrontation with the US to exist as some foolish people think.
Commenting on US Indiana Republican Party Senator Richard G. Lugar's call on President Barack Obama to appoint a special envoy to initiate direct talks with Cuba, Fidel said Senator Lugar was walking on solid grounds and not afraid of the silliness of being described as soft or pro-socialist.
"Those who are capable of serenely analysing the events, as is the case of the senator from Indiana, use an irrefutable argument [that] the United States' measures against Cuba over almost half a century are a total failure," Fidel said. "There is no need to emphasise what Cuba has always said. We do not fear dialogue with the United States. Nor do we need the confrontation to exist as some foolish people think. We exist precisely because we believe in our ideas and we have never feared dialogue with the adversary. It is the only way to secure friendship and peace among peoples."
He asked President Obama to reconcile his goodwill message and the continued blockade of Cuba by Washington.
"If President Barack Obama travels the world asserting, as he did in his very own country, that it is necessary to invest the sums needed to pull out of the financial crisis, to guarantee the homes where countless families live, to guarantee jobs for the American workers who are becoming unemployed by the millions, to install health services and quality education for all citizens, how can he reconcile that with blockade measures to impose his will over a country like Cuba?" Fidel asked.
He said today drugs were one of the most serious problems in the Western hemisphere and in Europe.
Fidel said in the war against drug trafficking and organised crime encouraged in the enormous US market, the Latin American countries are now losing almost ten thousand men each year, more than twice the number lost by the United States in the Iraq war.
He observed that the number continued to grow and the problem was very far from being resolved.
However, Fidel said that phenomenon did not exist in Cuba although the island was a closer neighbour of the US.
He said on that thorny subject and in the war against illegal migration, the US and Cuban coast guard services had been cooperating for many years.
"On the other hand, no American has ever died as the result of terrorist actions coming from our country because such activities would not be tolerated," said Fidel. "The Cuban Revolution which has not been destroyed either by the blockade or the dirty war is based on ethical and political principles that is the reason why it has been able to resist."
Senator Lugar argued that America's measures against Cuba puts the United States at odds with the views of the rest of Latin America, the European Union and the United Nations (UN) and also undermined its broader security and political interests in the Western Hemisphere.
Senator Lugar urged President Obama to use the April 17-19 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago to build a more hospitable climate to advance US interests in the region through "a change in our posture regarding Cuba policy."
Labels: CHARLES PHIRI, FFTUZ, THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Dora is wrong - Gen Miyanda
Written by George Chellah
Friday, February 20, 2009 6:38:38 PM
COMMUNICATIONS and transport minister Dora Siliya is wrong because she has
ignored or disregarded Cabinet guidelines and practices, Heritage Party (HP) president Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda has charged.
Giving his observations on the Zamtel and RP Capital Partners contract, Brig Gen Miyanda stated that he was shocked and exasperated by the casual and flippant manner in which the Vice-President, who is also Minister of Justice, had attempted to cover up what seems to be a pre-meditated scheme to circumvent Cabinet guidelines.
"There are times when it is advisable for the President to keep quiet; this is not one of those times. In fact where is the President? Has he gone back to Libya? Or is he now on his way to Timbuktu? This wrangle is now beyond Minister Siliya and Vice-President Kunda," Brig Gen Miyanda stated.
"Let the President show that he is the President and not wait for public debates on every national issue. It is the President who must issue the comprehensive statement, which the Vice-President promised but failed to deliver. His Vice has misinterpreted a simple government practice and custom on roles of ministers, deputies and other junior staff."
He stated that remarkably, the RP Capital Partners confusion had been created by the President himself, probably unknowingly.
"When President Banda appointed Mr George Kunda as Vice-President and Minister of Justice, he inadvertently created a two-headed monster which the Vice has taken advantage of and is mesmerising and confusing everybody, including the President. This has resulted in the creation of two centres for giving official legal opinion to the government, that is the Attorney General's and the Vice-President's offices," Brig Gen Miyanda stated.
"The government is supposed to have only one such centre for legal opinion, that is the Attorney General's Chambers. Because Vice-President Kunda is his Vice and a senior lawyer, the President who is but a lay person too, is bound to pay more attention to what his Vice says. It is the Vice-President who misled the President to announce prematurely that minister Siliya was on the right track. Minister Siliya was wrong; but Vice-President Kunda is double wrong because he has advised government wrongly. As to minister Siliya, she is wrong because she has ignored or disregarded Cabinet guidelines and practices. Although as minister she is the overseer of government policy in her ministry, she is not supposed to be involved in the day-to-day management and administration of the ministry as this is the preserve of the permanent secretary, who is the chief executive in the ministry.
"As regards decisions that have financial obligations, the rules provide that where the minister elects to overrule the permanent secretary, he or she must put this in writing, clearly stating that he or she accepts all responsibility for the course of action he or she has directed. This is because ministers are not allowed to commit the government to expenditure or financial obligations. After the Minister's letter to the PS, the PS should then act on the minister's instruction but at the same time report the matter to the Minister of Finance, the Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament."
Brig Gen Miyanda, who is also a former Republican vice-president, stated that the penalty against a minister who ignores such guidelines was a surcharge of the money involved and/or dismissal by the President.
"It will be interesting to know whether such a letter has been written to the PS by minister Siliya assuming all responsibility in the RP Capital deal. But clearly she has been misled by the Vice-President who gave her a legal opinion, which belittled that of the Attorney General and which gave her the courage she has displayed in the National Assembly and outside. As to Vice-President Kunda, his siding with the Solicitor General and abandon the Attorney General is in bad faith. The Attorney General pronounced the Memorandum of Understanding a nullity. This is a very serious position taken by the Attorney General and the Vice-President should not have trashed that opinion. By his statement he has usurped Attorney General Malila's position. The least he should have done was to let the Attorney General make the statement himself," Brig Gen Miyanda stated.
"Further, as Vice-President he is supposed to defend and protect the President; he kept quiet for a very long time while the President was receiving blows left, right and centre. The Vice-President is the real culprit in this confused RP Capital saga, as it is clear now that it is him who wrongly advised the President to say that minister Siliya was on the right track and impliedly that the Solicitor General was right and the Attorney General wrong. He has provided fodder for a running feud between these two senior officials in his ministry!"
He stated that it was fallacious for the Vice-President to suggest that the Solicitor General could do whatever he wanted when the incumbent Attorney General was not available.
"This is not the practice; this is not the convention. It is equally questionable for the Vice-President to declare that the Solicitor General is the deputy to the Attorney General. This suggests ominously that as long as Vice-President Kunda remains Vice-President and Minister of Justice, we shall see Attorney General Malila constantly being sent on long errands to enable [Vice-President] Kunda to direct the Solicitor General to carry out whatever schemes he has. This further suggests that when the President is away, Vice-President Kunda will change matters in the country as he pleases.
This is totally wrong even when said by a learned State Counsel," Brig Gen Miyanda stated. "After the damage has been done, he is now trying to rescue the President, who is also a lay person. If he is so concerned about lay persons doing technical government work, he should not have advised that the [National Constitutional Conference] NCC should proceed the way it is doing, with more than 90 per cent lay persons deliberating and even re-drafting the legal Mung'omba document which has already been drafted by lawyers.
"He and his government were advised to arrange for a constituent assembly, which would essentially be full of lay persons with the mandate to state what the broad principles should be in the constitution. Look at the circus in the NCC now, where at every stage the commissioners are requesting for experts to explain things to them, all because of Vice-President George Kunda's advice to the government when he was Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Now he is busy undermining the incumbent Attorney General. Give Malila a chance to prove his mettle!"
Brig Gen Miyanda stated that Vice-President Kunda's lecture about lay persons was out of place and was certainly not the law.
"I say that even if the Minister of Transport and Communications was a lawyer, he would still be obliged to seek the Attorney General's legal opinion. I would go so far as to state that even transactions emanating from the Vice President's office would require to be vetted by the Attorney General; that is his constitutional mandate. The provision is not an insult nor is it intended to belittle other lawyers but is simply division of labour; it is recognition that too many cooks spoil the soup and the sooner the President realizes this the quicker he should act to rescue the Ministry of Justice and the Cabinet," he stated.
Brig Gen Miyanda stated that the President must move quickly to extinguish the double-headed monster that he created.
"He must make up his mind what he really wants Vice-President George Kunda to be or to do. As regards the alleged offer of free service by Selex, this must be trashed with the contempt it deserves. Where these conmen give you two brooms and three shovels, you can be rest assured that they will receive in return one thousand brooms and shovels plus a tax free incentive," Brig Gen Miyanda stated.
"No business entity exists to conduct free services. This must be stopped; if the current law is not clear then the Minister of Justice must take to Parliament such a law that makes it expressly clear that gifts by business organisations to government will not be entertained and will be prima facie evidence of a plot to defraud or corrupt."
And Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde backed the decision by the civil society to petition the Chief Justice to probe Siliya.
"They are within their right. We have no objection to that as a federation. If the matter is of public interest it will only be fair that the tribunal is called because if it's not called it will be to the disadvantage of the accused. People must be free to go and give evidence so that this matter is put to rest," said Nonde.
"At the moment we don't know the truth, we don't know who is wrong and correct. There has been a debate on this matter, so if it's taken to the tribunal it will be better so that the truth is known."
Labels: DORA SILIYA, FFTUZ, GENERAL MIYANDA, JOYCE NONDE, RP CAPITAL PARTNERS
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Sondashi smells corruption over dissolution of ZR board
Written by Patson Chilemba and Margaret Mtonga
Thursday, February 12, 2009 5:14:21 PM
Zambia Railways (ZR) immediate past board chairperson Dr Ludwig Sondashi yesterday charged that he smells corruption in the dissolution of the board. Commenting on communications minister Dora Siliya's dissolution of Zambia Railways board, including two others on Sunday, Dr Sondashi said the board was dissolved because it could not agree with her on the performance of Railway Systems of Zambia (RSZ).
“I am not against the dissolution of the board because the minister has legal authority,” Sondashi said. “But I have a feeling that the board has been dissolved because it was not cooperating with the minister on the performance of RSZ when the Zambian people are getting nothing out of the concession. Like the area of investment, even this US $30 million which was highlighted by the new Minister of Finance is insufficient. RSZ has invested US $30 million in repairs but what is needed is over US $80 million.
“Both Zambia Railways board and the inter-ministerial committee of the Ministry of Communications recommended that the concession agreement should be reviewed. The minister has rejected that. This concession agreement has been written in such a way that it advantages RSZ than government. Why does she refuse to meet us and yet she has been meeting with the RSZ board. ZR is the monitoring board. RSZ is not supposed to directly report to the minister according to the Concession Agreement. I smell corruption out of this.”
Dr Sondashi said there was a “rumour” that the government intends to sale TAZARA to RSZ.
He said due to Siliya's indifference to the Zambia Railways board, he was forced to write directly to President Rupiah Banda on December 5, 2008 on the need to meet over the Concession Agreement and the operations of Zambia Railways Limited.
In the letter to President Banda, Dr Sondashi stated that the negotiating team for the concession contract did not contain nor did it consult any railway or business experienced people.
“This has resulted in a Concession Agreement which is not balanced and with many strange conditions e.g. the change of circumstances conditions and also how to handle assets not used by the concessionaire,” he stated.
Dr Sondashi stated that the privatisation negotiations were done with total disregard of the business particulars of the railway company, railway industry and the resulting Concession Agreements that were one sided to the advantage of the concessionaire.
He stated that monitoring of the concessionaire had failed because of poor organisation and unwillingness by the government to enforce the Concession Agreements. Dr Sondashi stated that lack of competence, poor organisation and lack of investments had resulted in the poor performance of the concessionaire to date.
He stated that the concessionaire had prioritised their short-term cash flow.
“Therefore, it is fair to say that the overall project so far has been a failure as the railway system today is worse off than before concession. The rail freight volumes and the status of the assets have never been so bad as today,” Dr Sondashi stated.
As for the fixed concession fees which were supposed to be paid yearly from the gross profit, Dr Sondashi stated that RSZ has only paid once from its inception due to the 'change in circumstances clause' contained in the Concession Agreement.
He stated that Zambia Railways, despite being the monitoring agent, had not been in receipt of any concession fees to assist in its operations as these were paid directly to Ministry of Finance.
Dr Sondashi stated that an inter-ministerial committee appointed by government observed that the proposed US $30 million pledged by RSZ was inadequate for a complete recapitalisation and improvement of the railway operations.
“The board directed me and I have written twice to the Minister of Communications and Transport requesting for a meeting with her, but the minister has not found it fit to meet with us,” stated Dr Sondashi.
In response, Siliya acknowledged receipt of Dr Sondashi's letter to President Banda in which Zambia Railways board requested to have an audience with the President over the Concession Agreements and operations of Zambia Railways Limited.
Siliya stated that she agreed with the board's concerns regarding both concession agreements in freight and passenger services and that something needed to be done quickly to improve Zambia Railways efficiency to the economy.
She stated that her ministry had held several meetings with the shareholders and management of RSZ in an effort to resolve the contentious issues in the Concession Agreement.
Siliya stated that a stakeholders meeting was arranged and scheduled to be held on July 24, 2008 at which the late President Mwanawasa was to be present but was cancelled.
“His Excellency, the President is fully aware of the problems we have with the concession and very soon, all these matters will be followed up. I probably should mention that the late President did agree with me that canceling the concession might not be the best option but balancing the contentious issues for mutual benefit of both parties,” Siliya stated.
“Lastly, I agree with you that the Zambian negotiating team did not do a good job on the concession but that is all in the past. We should concentrate on finding a lasting solution to the problem at hand.”
On Monday Siliya dissolved the Zamtel, National Airports Corporation (NAC) and Zambia Railways boards.
And Federation of Free Trade Union in Zambia (FFTUZ) vice-president Charles Phiri said the directive by Siliya to dissolve the three boards clearly showed how shady her decision was.
In an interview yesterday, Phiri said Siliya's decision was made in bad faith and was characterised by shady thinking.
“Siliya has caused a lot of suspicion over the dissolution of the three boards - Zamtel board, National Airports Corporation and Zambia Railways Limited boards,” Phiri said. “Especially for Zamtel, because board members were supposed to meet a day before she dissolved the boards. Why did she act like that? It shows that there is something fishy going on.”
He said if the process was done in a transparent manner, Siliya would have taken a different approach of first waiting to have the board meeting whose agenda was to discuss the future of Zamtel.
“With the stories of late that we have being reading in the media about the alleged reports that Dora has awarded a US$2 million contract to a foreign company to value the assets of Zamtel makes the public to raise a lot of questions and believe that the boards were corruptly dissolved,” Phiri said.
He said the money in question was very little, so much that even a Zambian would manage to invest in Zamtel.
“The minister has not upheld the rules of corporate governance that are very clear in our country,” Phiri said. “You cannot be a shareholder and start awarding contracts at the some time.”
Phiri urged President Banda to stop supporting issues that he did not even understand.
“As the labour movement, we are very surprised that President Rupiah Banda is supporting Dora,” said Phiri. “The President should stay away from issues that he does not understand, he does not even know the truth about tender producers. Zamtel is a national institution. The money involved raises a lot of questions and clearly shows corruption.”
Labels: CHARLES PHIRI, CORRUPTION, FFTUZ, LUDWIG SONDASHI, PRIVATISATION, RSZ, ZAMBIA RAILWAYS
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Consider civil servants as important, Joyce Nonde tells govt
January 31, 2009
The Federation for Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) has appealed to government to start considering the civil service as one of the important sectors in the country.
FFTUZ president Joyce Nonde expressed sadness that government has continued to ignore issues such as the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) that affect the Zambian workers.
Ms. Nonde explained that workers in the civil service play an important role towards the economic development of the country hence the need for government to treat them fairly.
She told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that despite the number of workers increasing, government has not been improving their working conditions. She noted that the civil servants’ take home pay has remained pitifully low despite reduced taxes.
Ms. Nonde disclosed that her organisation was concerned with current global economic recession, noting that this will adversely affect workers in the country.
She stated that the current increase in the PAYE exempt threshold from K600,000 to K700,000 did not bring any change, saying only few people earn less than K700,000 per month.
She added that government should have thought of broadening the tax base further to K1, 000,000 for many workers to benefit.
The FFTUZ president further explained that the tax base unveiled in the 2009 budget does not give hope to workers, adding that it is only targeted at a small number of workers who earn less than K700, 000.
Yesterday, Minister of Finance and National Planning Situmbeko Musokotwane presented the 2009 national budget to parliament in which he said government is committed to providing tax relief to the workers and increased the PAYE exempt threshold.
Workers getting up to K700, 000 will not be taxed while those getting between K700, 000 and K1, 235,000 per month will have their salaries taxed at 25 per cent.
Those going home with K1, 235,001 up to K4, 000,000 will attract tax rate of 30 per cent while those getting over K4, 000,001 per month will pay 35 per cent as PAYE.
ZANIS/MM/KSH/ENDS.
Labels: 2009 BUDGET, FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE, PAYE
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Civil servants wishing to be MPs should resign a year before an election – NCC
Written by Katwishi Bwalya and Margaret Mtonga
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 5:30:20 AM
THE legislative committee of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) has adopted a proposal that workers in the public service wishing to stand as parliamentary candidates should resign from their position a year before an election.
But Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde said the adopted proposal by the legislative committee of the NCC for civil servants to resign a year before getting into politics was unfair.
During the ongoing sittings last week, the delegates resolved that all public service workers who wanted to venture into politics should resign from the civil service a year before they are adopted by their political parties.
Members of the committee said that would allow government programmes to be implemented without any hindrances from people with political ambitions.
Committee chairperson Mutale Nalumango guided the members that people who would be affected in the category include those from the public service, defence forces and companies formed under a statutory body.
After extensive debates, some members supported the idea that workers should resign three years before being adopted by their political parties as candidates while others wanted the three years to run up to election day or the day of filing in of nominations.
The members argued that allowing public service workers to resign for a period of one year would help reduce abuse of public resources for their political gains.
The matter was subjected to a vote and members eventually agreed for a one-year period.
But in an interview, Nonde said every law that the NCC was addressing should be fair to every Zambian and not a punishment.
"Every law must be fair to every side," Nonde said. "If you say people who wished to stand as parliamentary candidates should resign from their position a year before an election date, that will disadvantage the workers because they will stop taking part in active contributions to the development of the country," she said.
Nonde said the adopted proposal was too harsh on the public servants as that would infringe on their benefits because they would get less money by retiring one year earlier.
"For example, no person would want to retire at 30 years. The legislative committee should be fair in the proposals that they adopted, because I don't think a 30-year-old would want to resign and participate in parliamentary candidature, that's why I’m saying the adopted proposal does not make sense at all. Those deliberating on the NCC should rethink about the proposal they have adopted," Nonde said. "The composition of the NCC is really bad as they have left out the commissioners who should have been there to give them guidance on this adopted proposal. The deliberations at the NCC are not good enough because those people are busy talking to themselves. I even doubt if at all that composition will give us a good constitution that represents the wish of the Zambian people.
"The chances of NCC giving us a good constitution are very slim because those people in NCC are state actors."
Labels: CIVIL SERVANTS, CONSTITUTION, FFTUZ, MUTALE NALUMANGO, NCC
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Zambian Airways’ suspension of operations is a tragedy – Mwenye
Written by Allan Mulenga
Monday, January 12, 2009 6:35:49 AM
FORMER Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) honorary secretary Musa Mwenye yesterday said the suspension of operations by Zambian Airways is a tragedy to the nation.
And Federation for Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) vice-president Charles Phiri said the airline's suspension of operations would have negative effects on the economy.
Commenting on the airline's indefinite suspension of all operations, Mwenye, who is also a Lusaka lawyer, said the suspension of Zambian Airways' operations could have been avoided had the government intervened in the matter.
"The suspension of operations of Zambian Airways is a tragedy not only to the shareholders and their families, but also to the entire nation," he said.
Mwenye said since the airline was a strategic courier, the government would have emulated other countries that had dealt with the industry and helped the airline find a lasting solution to the problems affecting its operations.
"Since as a nation we don't have the national courier, the government should have taken a leaf from what had happened in European [countries] or America and take relevant measures to find solutions affecting its operations," Mwenye said.
And Phiri observed that the cost of running business to some extent in the country would be high with the suspension of all operations by Zambian Airways.
"Generally, our economy will be affected because Zambian Airways was offering cheap and reliable services to Zambians in the business sector. We are looking at a situation where people doing business in the country will have no option but to travel by bus both locally and internationally," he said.
Phiri said in the long run, some businesses could collapse because not everyone could afford the high air travel costs.
"Travelling by bus to South Africa will be a difficult undertaking to most businessmen and women and since the operations of the airline have been suspended, we see a situation where very few people will be able to continue running their businesses," he said.
Phiri also said the labour movement was saddened by the high number of workers whose job security was threatened by the airline's decision to suspend operations.
"As FFTUZ, we are deeply saddened by the loss of employment among our members," he said.
Phiri appealed to the government to ensure that the operations of Zambian Airways were sustained as most Zambians depend on its services.
On Saturday, Zambian Airways suspended all of its operations citing high operational costs. According to the airline's board, operations had been suspended until further notice to facilitate restructuring.
The board noted that the last 18 months had been very challenging for the airline industry in general and Zambians Airways in particular.
Labels: AIRLINES, CHARLES PHIRI, FFTUZ, JOBLOSSES, LAZ, MUSA MWENYE, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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2009 budget should serve as a relief to workers’ plight – Phiri
Written by Allan Mulenga and Gloria Siwisha
Sunday, January 11, 2009 9:23:04 AM
ZAMBIA Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) first deputy president Sam Phiri has said the 2009 budget should serve as a relief to the workers' plight.
And Federation for Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde hoped that a large chunk of this year's budget would go towards diversifying the agricultural sector.
In an interview yesterday, Phiri said the current tax regime was not favourable to workers, saying there was need for the government to increase tax exemption threshold from the current K600,000 to K1. 5 million to enable workers have enough purchasing power.
"The Pay As You Earn exemption threshold is too high for ordinary workers. At least the government should exempt workers earning less than K1.5 million from tax and later revise the tax brackets from one per cent to the maximum of 10 per cent. Although we understand our responsibility to contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)," he said.
Phiri said the government should ensure that the budget was worker-friendly particularly for those in the formal sector.
"We want the government to come up with a worker friendly budget particularly for us in the formal sector because the numbers are reducing due to the current problems affecting the mines. We don't expect to be inflicted with more pain," he said.
And Nonde said the global economic recession has had an adverse effect on the mining industry and should serve as a wake-up call for the government to make a revolutionary turn towards building the agricultural sector.
"The country is going through an economic crisis and right now the inflation rates have also gone up. This on its on means the union will have problems with the government when it comes to negotiations for the plight of workers in the country," she said.
Nonde said this was a time for the government to work towards encouraging local investments as opposed to depending only on foreign investment.
"The government talks about the country benefiting from investments but we don't feel the impact. There is need for solid investments into the agricultural sector, the kind that would trickle down to Zambians. The dropping further of the copper prices should serve as a lesson to the government not to entirely depend on copper," said Nonde.
Meanwhile, Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) general secretary Roy Mwaba urged the government to budget for over K12 billion rural hardship allowances arrears owed to teachers countrywide.
"In this year's budget we urge the government to clear all the outstanding rural hardship allowances owed to teachers countrywide. In some districts the government has four years rural hardship arrears," said Mwaba.
Labels: 2009 BUDGET, BUDGET, FFTUZ, JOBLOSSES, ZCTU
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‘FFTUZ won’t accept less than K2m pay for govt workers’
Written by Kelvin Tembo
Monday, January 05, 2009 6:14:16 PM
FEDERATION of Free Trade Unions in Zambia (FFTUZ) vice-president Charles Phiri has said unions will not accept anything less than K2 million for the least paid government employee this year.
And Phiri said
no money should be put aside for personal emoluments for constitutional office holders in this year’s budget. In an interview, Phiri said it was not possible for civil servants to survive on less than K2 million in a month especially in Lusaka.
“Our overall expectation is that no government worker should earn less than K2 million, we will not accept anything below that, whatever the percentage that will be,” he said.
He said according to the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR)’s food basket, a family of six in Lusaka needed not less than K1.8 million per month to survive.
Phiri called on FFTUZ affiliates to ensure that they effectively bargained for improved conditions of service for the benefit of their workers during negotiations this year.
And Phiri said constitutional office holders had given themselves enough increments last year.
“We will not expect any personal emoluments to be given in this year’s budget,” Phiri said.
He also advised the Ministry of Education Health to cut down on workshops especially those relating to HIV and AIDS and capacity building.
“It is too much of these workshops where people are being given huge sums of money in terms of sitting allowances when results are not being seen,” said Phiri. “People are spending weeks evaluating programmes which are not yielding any results.”
Labels: CHARLES PHIRI, CIVIL SERVANTS, FFTUZ, MINIMUM WAGE
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FFTUZ opposes plans to ‘privatise’ Zamtel
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Friday, December 12, 2008 4:26:34 AM
THE Federation of Free Trade Unions (FFTUZ) has expressed opposition to the intended partial privatisation of Zamtel Limited by the government.
Commenting on the announcement by communications minister Dora Siliya that the government was going to partially offload some shares in Zamtel to private investors as part of the rescue plan for the financially beleaguered company, FFTUZ president Joyce Nonde wondered why the government was rushing on a privatisation programme when it was very clear the exercise had been a disaster in the past.
Nonde said the fact that highly capitalistic countries like United States and United Kingdom were now nationalising other privately-owned institutions and financial institutions in the name of protecting national interest spoke volumes about the future of privatisation in the world.
“You can’t privatise Zamtel. You know information is vital. As FFTUZ you know our position on privatisation. We strongly feel about this and we strongly oppose this move by the government just like we opposed the privatisation of Zesco,” Nonde said. “Look at what the effects of privatisation in the country are. We are having these mealie-meal problems because everything is in the hands of the private sector. Just look at what is happening on the Copperbelt, mining companies are now trying to blackmail the government by laying off workers on the basis of copper prices when in actual fact what they want is to compel the government to backpedal on the new taxation (new mining fiscal regime) and here we are taking some more companies to the private hands.”
Nonde maintained that Zamtel was a financially viable company which had been wrecked by, among other things, the government’s failure to pay its obligations to the telecommunications company.
“Instead of rushing to privatise, the way out is to ensure we increase the checks and balances in Zamtel. But it is incorrect for anyone to suggest that Zamtel is unviable,” she said.
And Nonde dismissed assertions by Siliya that the government would want Zamtel’s privatisation to take the route of Zanaco sell to Rabobank which the government described as a successful transaction.
“What success are they talking about in the privatisation of Zanaco Plc? The bank (Rabobank) is barely laying the ground and you are saying it has been a success. What success?” asked Nonde. “Now it is a disaster because the financial sector in the country is completely in the hands of the private sector and already we are seeing how Zambians are struggling to get access to loans. You find that now foreigners are finding it easier to access money from our local banks than our own Zambians. Our people are having difficulties because too much is being demanded from them…you find that they will tell you that even your house is not enough to get collateral…people have to move with everything like payslips, what about those who don’t work. Zambians can’t access loans?”
Labels: FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE, ZAMTEL
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FFTUZ to take on new govt over workers’ conditions
Written by Allan Mulenga
FEDERATION of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde has said no amount of intimidation by the new government would deter union leaders from advocating better working conditions for the workers.
And Nonde has said the call by labour minister Austin Liato to engage the labour movement in dialogue was an admission that the MMD government had failed to address workers’ interests.
In an interview yesterday, Nonde said the new government should not resort to threats whenever workers demanded for improved working conditions.
“We don’t want the things that were happening in the previous government to start occurring again in this new cabinet where workers have been constantly threatened with dismissal by government leaders whenever they press for improved conditions,” she said.
Nonde said the new administration was destined to fail if it attempted to adopt policies aimed at intimidating the labour movement.
“World-over, no single government has succeeded with intimidation of the labour movement. I would like to warn the new administration that it risks being de-campaigned by the unions if it adopts strategies aimed at frustrating workers,” she said.
And Nonde said although the union movement had welcomed the promise by the new labour minister to engage in dialogue with union leaders, the sentiment was a clear manifestation that the MMD were guilty of having done very little for workers.
“We know there is nothing the MMD can boast about when it comes to improving the conditions of workers. No wonder you saw during the just-ended presidential election that people in urban areas did not vote for them,” she said.
Nonde said during the past regimes, workers had been subjected to poor working conditions, hence the need for the new Cabinet to address the interests of workers.
“What we want as a union is to demand for better working conditions of the workers and our hope is that the new Cabinet will take the interests of workers first, unlike the past governments where workers were not given an opportunity to air their grievances,” said Nonde.
The newly-appointed labour minister Austin Liato on Sunday promised to engage the labour movement into dialogue, so as to address critical labour issues.
Liato said the outcome of the just-ended presidential election especially in urban areas, revealed that workers and the labour movement were not satisfied with the way the government had handled labour issues.
Labels: FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE, LABOUR
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Politics of appeasement shouldn’t be encouraged – Nonde
Written by Lambwe Kachali
Friday, November 07, 2008 3:45:48 AM
FEDERATION of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde yesterday said politics of appeasement should not be encouraged in Zambia because they breed segregation and quarrels among citizens.
Commenting on former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa's rejection of a house that the government offered to rent for her in Roma township, Nonde observed that it was not right for Maureen to reject the house.
Nonde said as much as it was important for Maureen to be given decent accommodation, she should not dictate to the government.
"We know it's the first time we lost the president in office but we need to be guided... We are getting more confused. Is the former first lady going to choose what the government should give her or it's the government to follow the provisions of the law? Because if my employers say I am entitled to a 4 x 4 car, I can't reject it and demand for a car of my choice. Otherwise if everybody was to choose their benefits, I am sure this country would be worse," Nonde said. "So if the former first lady should be choosing, then our country is not going to be safe...because the government has to say that ‘this is your entitlement’, rather than playing hide and seek."
Highly placed sources at Cabinet Office and State House on Wednesday disclosed that Maureen had rejected a house that the government had earlier offered to rent for her in Lusaka's Roma Township on grounds that she wants a modern house.
The sources said after the burial of president Mwanawasa in September, Maureen had agreed to move into a house in Roma that the government had offered to rent for her.
Sources said this followed President Rupiah Banda's instructions that the government should take proper care of Maureen and the family by offering her the accommodation she deserved.
Sources said President Banda also said Maureen should not be disturbed and that she should only move from State House after government finds a house of her choice.
Sources said it was difficult to search for a much better house that would please the former first lady because of the election campaigns.
Sources said the government's aim was to please Maureen so that she could overcome the loss of her husband.
They said now that President Banda was supposed to occupy State House, the government had decided to temporarily accommodate Maureen at one of the lodges in Lusaka's Kabulonga residential area. The sources said the government had rented an entire lodge for the former first lady and that they had found another house in Kabulonga, which they hoped she could move to in the next two weeks.
On September 1, 2008, Attorney General Mumba Malila explained that Maureen is entitled to a salary equivalent to 50 per cent of that of a serving head of state following president Levy Mwanawasa's death.
Malila said Maureen is also entitled to a diplomatic passport and a fully paid foreign trip once a year.
Malila said Maureen is also entitled to a house to be constructed in an area of her choice by virtue of her being the widow of the former head of state.
According to the former presidents benefits Act No. 21 of 1998, the widow is allowed to enjoy such benefits jointly with children below the age of 21 until she dies, as long as she does not go into politics or joins the government.
Maureen is also entitled to a vehicle, a driver and a house servant.
The two former first ladies of Zambia have not enjoyed this facility because their husbands are still alive and enjoying their benefits as provided for by the law.
Labels: FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE
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