COMMENT - It should be obvious. They defund agriculture, defund defense, and they also want to make the education system fees only. The MDC is funded by foreign powers, and now they want to weaken the Zimbabwean army.
15,000 army jobs to go: Mnangagwa
by Lebo Nkatazo
26/01/2011 00:00:00
The staff reduction is necessary to ensure quality care for the armed forces in the face of a cash squeeze facing central government, Mnangagwa said. The minister, speaking at the Zimbabwe Staff College of the Joint Command in Harare, expressed disappointment with the budget allocation for his ministry.
“The current budget levels cannot sufficiently address the needs of our defence forces, be it in equipment, training, salaries and adequate accommodation. If we are to continue providing reasonable care for our troops, we need to trim the force from the current 55,000 to 40,000 to match available funds,” he said.
Army chiefs have already assailed Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s US$194,67 million allocation for the Defence Ministry in his US$2,7 billion budget unveiled in November last year. Martin Rushwaya, the Secretary for Defence, stormed: "We are being reduced to an army of mere tribesmen.
“These meagre resources will hamper the Zimbabwe National Army from meeting its constitutional requirements.”
Zimbabwe’s military top brass, seen as loyalists of President Robert Mugabe, have read Biti’s budget snub as a political move in the internal dynamics of the strained power sharing government.
Biti, a member of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party, has denied underfunding the military, saying that ministries submitted budget requests amounting to US$11,3 billion – almost four times the total budget. But the economy’s slow pace of recovery and lack of foreign budgetary support, Biti said, limited his capacity to keep all ministries satisfied.
Labels: ARMED FORCES, JOBLOSSES, MDC, NEOLIBERALISM, TREASON
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1,600 jobs to go at Reserve Bank
by AFP
07/12/2010 00:00:00
THE debt-saddled Reserve Bank is to lay off 1,600 workers -- three quarters of its staff -- in a bid to balance its budget, officials said.
Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, who was widely blamed for presiding over rampant printing of the now abandoned local dollar which ended in hyperinflation, said only 530 jobs would be kept.
"We are looking at retrenching 74 percent of the central bank's staff," Gono told the official Herald newspaper. "It is not one of the easiest tasks as it is going to be one of the largest retrenchments in the history of the country by a single institution."
In March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the bank needed a new board to strengthen governance, adopt a sustainable budget, and refocus its role after abandoning the Zimbabwean dollar in 2009.
Gono said most of those likely to lose their jobs had served for more than 30 years. Employees recruited when the bank undertook various non-banking activities at the height of Zimbabwe's economic crisis will also be fired.
"We are currently saddled with a huge debt that strictly speaking belongs to the government, which stands at US$1.2 billion," he said.
Gono, as the bank's chief, was renowned for introducing new Zimbabwean dollar notes in astronomical denominations causing hyperinflation as the economy spiralled downwards amid political turmoil, but he remains at the helm.
His presence as the bank's chief remains one of the major sticking points in the unity government between veteran President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.
Zimbabwe's economy grew by 4.7 percent last year, ending 12 years of contraction during which inflation hit world record levels.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last month that the economy would grow by 9.3 percent in 2011 due to improved tobacco production and higher mining output.
Labels: GIDEON GONO, JOBLOSSES, NEOLIBERALISM
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LCM recess heightens workers fears over jobs
By Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Sun 14 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT
CHISHIMBA Kambwili has said the government and management at Chinese-run Luanshya Copper Mine (LCM) will have to kill him first before they can bring in any expatriate to replace a Zambian.
Commenting on fears by LCM workers that Zambians that operate the hoisting system would be laid off and replaced by expatriates from China once the new system is installed, Kambwili, who is opposition Roan PF member of parliament, urged the workers not to be anxious because they had him.
Over 800 workers at LCM will go on recess following management’s decision to temporarily close the mine to facilitate the rehabilitation of the hoisting system.
But sources at LCM feared that Zambians that used to operate the hoisting system would be laid off and replaced by expatriates from China once the new system is installed.
The source also said there was panic among workers because rumours of workers going on recess were heightening fears of permanent job losses.
However, LCM public relations manager Sydney Chileya allayed fears of job losses saying all the 807 employees proceeding on recess were still LCM employees.
He said all the employees would continue getting their basic salaries and housing allowances, except overtime and other allowances.
Chileya also said the employees were not being allowed to travel out of town without permission because they might be recalled anytime.
But Kambwili said the situation would not permit any Chinese national to replace a Zambian operating the hoisting system.
“If the government and the Chinese management at LCM want to bring in Chinese to operate the hoisting system, they will have to kill me first,” Kambwili vowed. “No Chinese national will be allowed to operate the hoisting system…if they allow that, it will mean that we have no government and if we have it, then it doesn’t care for the people.”
Kambwili said Zambians had been running mines as early as the 1920s and the job of winding, engine drivers had always been for Zambians.
However, Kambwili said he had no problem with the mine going on recess as long as the miners would be getting their salaries.
LCM will be on recess starting tomorrow till December 31.
Labels: JOBLOSSES, LCM
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Luanshya Copper Mines goes on recess
By Darious Kapembwa
Thu 11 Nov. 2010, 03:59 CAT
LUANSHYA Copper Mines has gone on a one-and-half-month recess to facilitate rehabilitation of the hoisting system amidst fears of job losses among employees. Company public relations manager Sydney Chileya confirmed in an interview that the mine had been temporarily closed to pave way for the rehabilitation of the outdated hoisting system, which was built in the 1930s.
Chileya said the recess was initially scheduled for July/August 2010 but the equipment primary gear, secondary gear and rope did not get into the country on time.
However, some workers at the mine have received the news with apprehension, fearing that the Chinese owners would take advantage of installation of the new equipment to layoff workers and replace them with expatriate Chinese.
“We are hearing that these guys want to bring in their colleagues in the name of refurbishing the old system and lay off some staff in some departments. So unions will come in to intervene because everyone is aware even if they are saying it is normal, we do not trust them because this rumour of a layoff is quite strong,” one of the workers said.
But Chileya dismissed the fears and insisted that all workers would remain employees of the mine. He said the miners would continue to get their monthly salaries until the mine reopens in January.
“You see that is not true, this mine has four major components, underground operations – the system has been rehabilitated - the cable conveyor belt and the concentrator have all been done and what was remaining was the hoisting system commonly known as Ichikwepe which is obsolete and has been a challenge to move copper from underground to the surface,” Chileya said.
“All the equipment is in and we want to replace it so that we commence normal production by early January and the mine cannot remain operational when this system repair is underway. No one will lose employment. They will continue getting their salaries except for overtime.”
Chileya said underground developments drilling in readiness for blasting would continue during the recess.
Labels: JOBLOSSES, LUANSHYA COPPER MINES, SYDNEY CHILEYA
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COMMENT - 650 is not 4,000. The neoliberals want to destroy government, and firing 4,000 city workers in the capital is a good place to start. Reducing the size of government so their corporate buddies can take over (or not) is what they do. This is the MDC at work.
City to lay off 4 000
By Michael Chideme
HARARE City Council is overstaffed by more than 4 000 employees and is considering retrenching the excess labour, Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda has said. About 650 workers who were on council’s payroll have already been dismissed after they failed to turn up for the manpower audit held three months ago, giving credence to reports that the city had many ghost workers.
“The human resources audit indicates that we have a bloated structure,” said Mr Masunda in an interview yesterday.
The city employs in excess of 10 000 workers who chew up 70 percent of revenue in salaries and allowances.
The city’s monthly staff costs are believed to be about US$7, 5 million against revenue of around US$10 million.
If it retrenches the more than 4 000 workers, council can reduce its salary bill by almost half.
Management pay cheques gobble more than 5 percent of the total wage bill while allowances for workers range from 115 percent to 145 percent of gross monthly salaries.
Critical staff like medical doctors and engineers get the highest allowances.
Mr Masunda said the manpower audit revealed that the city could be run by about 6 000 employees.
“We have enlisted the World Bank to validate the numbers. We have to have the right size. The study that was conducted says the city could be run best by not more than 6 000 people,” he said.
Mr Masunda blamed the bloated figures on political interference, saying politicians gave directives for employment of “their relatives and cronies”.
“The same politicians that are calling the shots contributed (to the overstaffing),” he said.
The mayor said council would negotiate with those in management grades one to four who have individual contracts on retrenchment.
For those in grades five to 16, council would negotiate with their representative trade unions.
Council is presently not replacing employees who retire or die unless there are no special skills within the local authority to replace them.
“We have a case of the 650 employees who were on our payroll who failed to turn up at their respective job stations during the manpower audit.
“I have directed that they be struck off the payroll,” Mr Masunda said.
The Government recently ordered council to stop recruiting new workers until it met the approved 30 to 70 percent employment costs to service provision ratio.
Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo, said any recruitment had to be sanctioned by his ministry.
Labels: HARARE CITY COUNCIL, JOBLOSSES, MUCHADEYI MASUNDA, NEOLIBERALISM
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Ministers force Biti rethink on recruitment
by Lindie Whiz
29/09/2010 00:00:00
FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti has been forced to break his pledge to
freeze government recruitment after Education Minister David Coltart and his Public Service counterpart Elphas Mukonoweshuro complained the move was
crippling their departments.[That's the idea. Non-functioning government is one of the goals of neoliberalism. Welcome to the theology of neoliberalsm. 'Government is bad, government is the problem'. Eddie 'Crash And Burn' Cross took it even further back in 2000: "On privatisation, Cross was especially brash:
We are going to fast track privatisation. All fifty government parastatals will be privatised within a two-year time frame, but we are going far beyond that. We are going to privatise many of the functions of government. We are going to privatise the Central Statistical Office. We are going to privatise virtually the entire school delivery system. And you know, we have looked at the numbers and we think we can get government employment down from about 300,000 at the present time to about 75,000 in five years. From:
A new Zimbabwe? Eddie Cross and the MDC, by Patrick Bond. - MrK]
Biti announced an
indefinite civil service wage cap in April while also ordering a
freeze on all new recruitments for “non-critical” vacant posts. Several government departments were forced to shed non-permanent jobs, with the Education Ministry letting go of
20,000 temporary teachers -- 4,000 of them in Matabeleland North Province alone.
Education Minister David Coltart said Wednesday he had “highlighted the difficulties that had been caused by the decision” which also prevented his department from hiring new graduates and returning teachers who had quit.
Coltart said: “We bilaterally approached the Minister of Finance with the Minister of Public Service and highlighted the difficulties that had been caused by the decision to stop hiring temporary and other teachers.
“It was then resolved that they should be re-engaged with effect from September 17.”
Coltart said temporary teachers were a vital cog in the country’s education system, adding: “They fill vacancies when experienced staff go on leave. They also take up posts in remote areas that are normally shunned by trained teachers.
“Besides, the country is facing an acute shortage of qualified teachers.”
Biti, struggling to rein-in government expenditure to balance with low receipts for the weak economy, targeted the civil service wage bill which was US$913 million in 2009.
“Normal economics demand that only 30 percent of the budget be channelled to salaries as per the World Bank standards. We are outperforming World Bank countries that have a much higher level of domestic product,” Biti said in April.
But his move to freeze the wage bill put him on a collision course with unions. He soon found himself isolated as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Mukonoweshuro insisted a wage freeze was not government policy – although no pay increases have been announced since amid strike threats by unions.
Government employees earn between US$150-250 a month, but are demanding US$500-600 a month. They have threatened strikes in October – one month before the 2011 budget announcement -- if their demands are not met.
Labels: JOBLOSSES, NEOLIBERALISM, TENDAI BITI
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COMMENT - It should by now be clear that the Rupiah Banda government and the MMD don't give a damn about workers and workers rights in Zambia. ZAMTEL should have been restructured, and should never have been privatized. Privatisation should be reversed, even without compensation for LAP Green. If they are already breaking promises, we should break our promises to them.
1,669 Zamtel workers to lose jobs
By Darious Kapembwa in Kitwe
Fri 27 Aug. 2010, 11:00 CAT
ZAMBIA Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary general Roy Mwaba has disclosed that Lap Green, the new owner of Zamtel, will
only retain about 731 workers on three months contracts out of the 2,400 workers retrenched. In an interview yesterday, Mwaba said Lap Green had gone against the agreement it signed with the government to create jobs and make Zamtel viable.
Mwaba also revealed that Lap Green had refused to sign the recognition agreement with the Uganda communications union since they bought a telecommunications company in that country in 2002.
“It is very unfortunate that these people have gone against the promises they made when they were buying Zamtel. Can you imagine out 2,431 workers they retrenched, they have only contacted about 731 and they are only engaging them on 90 days contracts to assess their performances which means after this period there will be more retrenchments,” Mwaba said.
“They promised more jobs and to make Zamtel more viable, that is what made some of us very excited but I can assure that we have already started measures to ensure that this matter is handled carefully to protect the interests of the workers to avoid what is happening in Uganda where Lap Green bought a telecommunications company and disregarded labour laws.”
Mwaba said his team travelled to Uganda and their investigations revealed that Lap Green had refused to sign the recognition agreement with the communications union in that country since 2002.
He feared the trend might come to Zambia because the company had already retrenched all union branch officials in all towns where the National Union of Communication and Industrial Workers had presence.
Mwaba said only the president and the trustee of the communications union had been retained in order to weaken the union’s voice in the company’s operations.
And NUCIW general secretary Clement Kasonde said retrenchments at Zamtel were conditional redundancies and not compulsory.
He said the retrenchment exercise runs up to August 31, 2010 and that everyone, including those that would remain at Zamtel, would have been paid by that date.
“By the end of August, about 2,400 will have received their retrenchment packages. As a union, we want to know how the retrenchment exercise is being implemented,” he said.
Kasonde said his union wanted to ensure that the retrenchment was done in accordance with fair labour practices.
“The union has to ensure that the exercise is credible, transparent and in line with laws. The union has taken cognisance that there is recognition and collective agreement which needs to be respected as we undertake to implement retrenchment exercise,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mwaba urged the government to engage unions before signing anything with investors coming into the country.
He cited the recent outsourcing problems at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) as an issue that arose from the government’s failure to involve the mineworkers union.
Mwaba appealed to the government to conduct thorough investigations into the organisation and operations of Brazi’s Vale Mining Company, which he said had a record of disregarding labour laws in the countries they invested in.
Mwaba said ZCTU believed that the government was leaving the unions out of negotiations with investors because they had something to hide.
“From now onwards there should be nothing to agree on with the so-called investors without the involvement of the labour movement, they leave the unions because they have something to hide, because we just heard the head of state talking about Vale. Investigations have to be done with MUZ fully involved otherwise there would be no deal for Vale,” said Mwaba.
Labels: CORRUPTION, JOBLOSSES, LAP GREEN, NEOLIBERALISM, PRIVATISATION, ZAMTEL
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Mutati regrets his statement on Zamtel evaluation report
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe, Misheck Wangwe and Florence Bupe
Wed 16 June 2010, 04:01 CAT
COMMERCE minister Felix Mutati yesterday regretted his statement that Zambians would not understand the government’s sale of Zamtel from valuation report and asked that they listen to the “rational explanation from the government”.
And Mutati has said the RP Capital report on the valuation results of the net asset value of recently privatised Zamtel public will be made public at the end of this month as pressure continue to mount for the controversial report to disclosed.
Mutati has in the last two days come under fire from key interest groups who accused him of insulting Zambians for saying that they would never understand the RP Capital report on Zamtel’s assets.
Addressing the press yesterday, Mutati said he regretted the statement and that he could not insult the integrity of the Zambian people.
“I will never ever underestimate the intelligence of the people of Zambia... I draw my mandate from the people of Zambia,” said Mutati, who started the briefing by hand-shaking all journalists present. “The people of Zambia have tremendous capability to understand and analyse issues and I will never underestimate that capability.”
Mutati said the government was pleased with the amount of debate surrounding the controversial sale of three quarters of the Zamtel to Libya’s Lap Green Networks at US $275 million.
“I want to thank the people for holding government in good esteem and also for engaging government on this particular issue. It is critically important. As government, we work for the people,” Mutati said. “But let me emphasise that I do not underestimate the intelligence of the people of Zambia.”
And Mutati said the RP Capital evaluation report on Zamtel which cost the country US $12.8 million would be made public this month.
“The plan of action for government on this transaction is that as soon Parliament opens at the end of this month, government will make a comprehensive statement to Parliament, laying on the table all the issues, facts and figures and data surrounding this particular privatisation so that the people of Zambia have a total picture,” Mutati said.
“The report that will be tabled in Parliament will be full disclosure of the findings and the work done by RP Capital and the basis of the decision that was taken by government to select Lap Green as the preferred bidder and ultimately as one with which we can transact with on this transaction. When we present the report to Parliament, we shall give opportunity to you journalists and everyone who is going to come, to say ‘what else or what more do you want to know regarding this particular transaction?’ So, let’s not pre-empt that particular stage. It is coming at the end of this month and then a judgment can be made.”
Mutati said the government sold Zamtel in the expectation the move would mirror “success” achieved by Zanaco Plc in the post-privatisation.
“In pre-privatisation, Zanaco was registering taxable losses. At the end of 2009, Zanaco registered taxable profits in excess of K50 billion in terms of capital employed and profit after tax,” said Mutati. “Before privatisation, Zanaco was ranked number four despite its size… post-privatisation, it has been
ranked number one in terms of capital employed and profit after tax. The customer base before privatisation was 200 000; after privatisation, 400, 000...And the revenue of Zanaco have more than double last year had revenues in excess of K500 billion and they are paying all the taxes and dividends to government. And that the story of the impact of privatisation, it is our expectation that once we go through the whole process of privatisation, not only are we going to plug the losses, not only are we going to be denied the tax revenues, not only are we going to be denied the dividends, but that the reverse situation is going to happen.”
And the board of directors of Zamtel has approved the proposal by the company management to relocate its headquarters from Ndola to Lusaka.
Senior sources within the company disclosed that the board approved the relocation of the headquarters to Lusaka last month and it would be done immediately when the new owners, Lap Green Networks of Libya, take over the operations.
The sources said Zamtel workers were disturbed by the news that Lap Green Networks would retain some employees while some would be retrenched.
“We are told that they have been sieving employees at the headquarters and they have introduced two types of letters; for those that would be retrenched and those that would be retained and when you are retained you move to Lusaka immediately,” the sources said, adding that workers feared that only a handful of the employees out of the 403 who operate at the headquarters would be retained and strategic members of staff would be retrenched because the new owners would come with their own people.
Meanwhile, economic consultant Robert Sichinga has said the insistence by government not to release the valuation report on Zamtel by RP Capital was a sign that the whole transaction lacked transparency and was questionable.
Speaking on QFM’s Monday Night Live phone-in programme, Sichinga said the law stipulated that a report should be disclosed for any company under the process of privatisation unless there are compelling reasons not to do so.
“Right from the word go, when we reflect on the issue of the valuation of Zamtel, it was fraught with problems of transparency. In order to have answers on the sale of Zamtel, we need to know what the valuation was against which the Zambian government has accepted to sell it for US $257 million,” he said.
Sichinga said the involvement of President Rupiah Banda’s son and the unusual manner in which the valuation and sale Zamtel was done had compromised the confidence of Zambians in the country’s investment systems.
“No sensible person in their right frame of mind can say the sale or transaction was okay. Where is the report from RP Capital? We are actually shocked that ZCTU (Zambia Congress of Trade Unions) is saying the transaction was fair because we don’t know against which figures they are basing their argument,” he said.
Sichinga demanded to know what efforts the government had put in to try and save the telecommunication service provider from collapsing before deciding to sell it to an international buyer.
He said by virtue of selling the 75 per cent majority shareholding to LAP Green, government had reduced Zamtel from being a citizen owned company to a citizen influenced one.
Sichinga explained that Zamtel had actually been sold for less than US $257 million, taking into consideration the costs incurred in the laying of the fibre optic totalling about US $70 million.
“Government should have provided strategic plans to save Zamtel from collapse. If they had to invest the 10 per cent of the company’s value which is being paid to RP Capital into its operations, it could have helped to revive Zamtel. Surely this doesn’t make sense,” said Sichinga.
Labels: FELIX MUTATI, JOBLOSSES, PRIVATISATION, ROBERT SICHINGA, ZAMTEL
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1500 RBZ workers face the sack
by Staff reporter
01/06/2010 00:00:00
THE cash-strapped Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) which teeters on the bring of collapse due to massive debts and its inability to print money is reportedly planning to sack up to 1500 employees in a bid to survive.
RBZ’s staff numbers bloated to more than 2000 in the last decade as the central bank printed money to fund so-called quasi-fiscal operations. A senior RBZ official told Radio VOP on Monday the institution would send home 1500 people as part of efforts to reduce an unsustainable US$400000 wage bill.
“(We are presently) trying to figure where we can get the huge amounts needed to retrench the 1500 people because that is the only way out of this crisis. Gono is now working full time to try and make sure that the retrenchment is smooth otherwise we will face more litigation.
“The quasi-fiscal activities the bank engaged in are coming back to haunt us. The bank is over staffed and we don’t know how we have been surviving. Workers are disgruntled because we are only getting US$150 a month.
Bank governor, Gideon Gono argues that the quasi fiscal operations saved the country from complete economic implosion in the last decade.
But critics say the governor’s penchant for throwing money at any problem was behind the hyperinflationary mayhem the country experienced over the last few years.
The move by government to ditch the virtually worthless Zimbabwe dollar in favour foreign currencies such as the US Dollar, the Botswana Pula and the South African rand has nearly snuffed the life out of the RBZ.
Unable to print money because of the currency switch the RBZ has found itself unable to pay contractors engaged to supply agricultural equipment as part of the quasi fiscal operations.
Some of the bank's property was recently auctioned as those owed money lost patience.
The central bank says its problems have been worsened by Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s failure to recapitalize the institution.
However Biti insists that with government's revenue inflows remaining constrained and donors holding onto their purses, he has little room to manoeuvre.
Labels: JOBLOSSES, RBZ
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1,400 jobs lost as testile firm shuts
by
08/10/2009 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE'S largest textile company is to close, shedding 1,400 jobs in a blow to efforts to kick-start the troubled country's economy. David Whitehead Textiles Ltd. filed for provisional liquidation with the High Court Thursday.
The company manufactures textiles, printed and dyed fabrics.
It says it can no longer afford to pay wages after the National Employment Council for the textile industry raised salaries 66 percent.
An increase in electricity costs also has compounded the company's financial difficulties.
The company is also facing competition from cheaper imported fabrics.
Its collapse is expected to negatively affect related industries in the retail, furniture and medical sectors. - AP
Labels: JOBLOSSES, MANUFACTURING
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Resist job cuts RB urges private sector
By NKOLE CHITALA
PRESIDENT Banda says the private sector should resist the temptation of job cuts but rather focus on other measures that can make their operations vibrant. And Zain Zambia Plc and Farmers House yesterday commissioned their newly-opened headquarters in Lusaka which was constructed at a cost of US$8 million.
Mr Banda said yesterday that he is concerned that while the economy is on the path of recovery, there is a tendency in the private sector to implement cost-cutting measures which sometimes affect employees.
Mr Banda was speaking in a speech read for him by Minister of Transport and Communications Geoffrey Lungwangwa at the commissioning of the new Zain offices in Lusaka yesterday.
He said the information communication technology (ICT) sector has remained resilient to the financial shocks such that the sector should maintain the service and employment levels.
Mr Banda commended Zain shareholders’ vision of bringing people together as partners in running the affairs of the company. He said the spirit of sharing benefits and risks encourages Government to do even more in the ICT sector.
President Banda said his Government is discussing the Information and Communication Technologies Bill, Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill and the Postal Services Bill.
He assured the nation that the bills are designed to move the ICT sector in line with regional, continental and global best practices.
Mr Banda said this is also designed to streamline the licensing regime to allow operators to determine the best technologies to deploy.
“On the other hand, Zambians, like other consumers around the globe, are eager to have technologies such as television on mobile phones in the nearest future,” he said.
Mr Banda said the bills have also made provisions for a technology neutral licensing framework while the number of licences will be minimised.
He said this is in line with Government’s policy of reducing the cost of doing business as envisaged in the business licensing reform programme.
Mr Banda said Government will continue to engage the private sector to achieve the promise expressed in the Vision 2030.
He said the national ICT policy launched in 2007 recognised the active participation of the private sector in national development especially in the delivery of services to the people.
Mr Banda said the ICT policy outlines the vision of Zambia being transformed into an information and knowledge-based society, supported by consistent development of and pervasive access to ICTs by all citizens by 2030.
And Zain Zambia Managing Director David Holliday said the company was committed to bringing innovative products and services that would help create a healthy business environment to make Zambia a more attractive investment destination.
Mr Holliday thanked Government for granting the company a 3G test licence.
“We have invested heavily in our 3G preparedness, complying with all legal requirements to ensure Zambia is not left out on the great technological advancements that are a key to national development.
“This will allow us to deliver high speed broadband internet with myriad applications from healthcare through 3G handsets, to incubating content entrepreneurs for youth and business alike,” he said.
Mr Holliday said Zain has grown considerably over the years, resulting in fragmented work space to accommodate everyone in Lusaka.
He said this has caused inefficiency with staff spread over Woodlands, Farmers House and Arcades.
Labels: ICT, JOBLOSSES, RUPIAH BANDA
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‘Involve traditional leaders, councils in securing land for ex-miners
Written by Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Friday, June 05, 2009 11:11:57 PM
MINE Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) president Rayford Mbulu has urged mining firms and the government to engage traditional leaders and councils in securing land for retrenched miners to pursue alternative livelihoods.
Officially opening the MUZ supreme council at Katilungu House in Kitwe yesterday, Mbulu noted that the prevailing economic situation may not guarantee immediate new jobs for those that had been retrenched and that this therefore entailed the need for former miners to be resettled and empowered with land.
He said empowering ex-miners with land could also assist them in accessing finances from institutions such as the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) to enable them become entrepreneurs.
And Mbulu urged political leaders to regularly visit mine operations and communities for them to appreciate the challenges miners were facing.
He lamented that miners were subjected to poverty, disease and squalor in addition to facing serious occupational health and safety problems.
"We have lost too many lives in mine accidents that we need to put our heads together to compel our investors to put health and safety issues on the mines, and casualisation as primary concerns and profits as a secondary pursuit," he said.
"In line with the promises that were made at the height of elections, we expect our leaders to be accountable to the people and to consult the people on issues and their priority areas of development for good roads, good schools, good hospitals, clean and affordable water, good sanitation and electricity."
Mbulu also called for unity among the MUZ membership saying there could only be one president at a time. He advised members to approach the union whenever they felt it had erred instead of subjecting it to great embarrassment through rumours and gossip.
"Opportunism can be a harzard. You can have zeal but zeal without knowledge can make you burn the whole village," observed Mbulu.
Labels: CEEC, JOBLOSSES, MINERS, MUZ, RAYFORD MBULU
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COMMENT I - Obviously, it is not enough to 'urge' fired miners to take up agriculture. The obligation is on the government, to provide a comprehensive plan and execution of an agricultural revolution in Zambia. Infrastructure, support services, training, capital goods. This is not expensive, but it needs the level of coordination only government can supply. Forget all the bad things you heard about Zimbabwe, and take a good hard look at their agricultural policies, which include land redistribution, tractorisation and mechanisation. Laissez faire doesn't cut it.
Retrenched miners urged to venture into agriculture
Saturday, May 30, 2009, 21:26
Agriculture minister Brian Chituwo (second from l) and his counterpart from mines Maxwell Mwale (second from r) inspect some goods at the Copperbelt mining and agriculture commercial show in Kitwe.
Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Brian Chituwo has urged retrenched miners on the Copperbelt to venture into agriculture which he said was one of the most profitable and sustainable businesses in the country. He was speaking at the Kitwe show grounds earlier today.
Dr. Chituwo said retrenched miners should not despair but take life’s challenges head on by engaging in small and large scale farming.
He further disclosed that some mining companies have requested his ministry to provide land where former miners could grow crops.
Dr. Chituwo said the ministry of Agriculture has since started exploring some pieces of land and advised former miners to take advantage of this in order to mitigate the effects of the global economic recession.
Dr.Chituwo also said the country had the capacity to produce different types of crops on a larger scale.
He said the country could use the global recession to its benefits by engaging in commercial production of crops such as cassava, groundnuts and beans.
He added that there was need to encourage mass production of certain crops that grow well in certain parts of the country, citing rice and groundnuts in Western and Eastern provinces respectively.
He further said there was need to identify crops with certain areas and regions of the country in order to effectively improve in the production of those particular crops.
*****************
COMMENT II:
For an understanding of the Zimbabwean approach:
(HERALD) Government buys 3 500 more tractors
By Innocent Ruwende
GOVERNMENT has bought 3 500 more tractors under the agriculture mechanisation programme and they are expected in the country over the next six months. Part of the consignment is due before the onset of the rains and will be used in the forthcoming summer cropping season.
The Minister of State for Agriculture Engineering, Mechanisation and Irrigation, Cde Joseph Made, said measures had been put in place to ensure that there would be no defective tractors.
"The country will receive at total of 3 500 tractors from different countries within the next six months. As we prepare for the farming season, we want to make sure that we have all the machinery needed,’’ said Cde Made.
"We are very happy that we are getting tractors of well-known brands, but we are warning companies that we are strengthening our inspection on all products. We will not leave any stone unturned as we want the best products for our farmers. We want to make sure that we will get the products we asked for. Companies supplying the tractors and other farming equipment risk losing business if they supply defective products."
Earlier in the day, Cde Made met Malaysian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Cheah Choong Kit, who reaffirmed his country’s commitment to providing and servicing agriculture implements for Zimbabwe. Cde Made said they discussed ways in which Malaysia could help Zimbabwe boost its cotton production.
"There is need for farmers to venture into cotton production as we are in high need of the crop. Cotton must be grown side by side with food crops where possible. Cotton is useful for edible oil and its by-products are used to feed cattle, so in way we can improve our national herd," he said.
The minister stressed the need to grow food crops to save foreign currency spent in importing maize.
On Monday, Cde Made met Algerian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Ali Mokani.
"In our discussions we were finding ways in which Algeria can help Zimbabwe in the field of irrigation. In Africa, Algeria and Egypt produce the best agriculture machinery and equipment.
"We also want to learn from the Algerians on water application. They have desert conditions in their country but they do have good irrigation schemes, so we want to learn their methods even though we have better rainfall in Zimbabwe,’’ he said.
Cde Made said he had faith in the suitability and durability of Algerian-manufactured farming machinery, particularly tractors.
His office was setting up a division to focus on engineering and mechanisation with training and extension services.
"The equipment we are receiving is worth trillions of dollars and needs good service and maintenance.
"We are going to open maintenance centres countrywide to make sure that the machinery is well taken care of. We need part of our staff to learn what other countries have done,’’ he said.
(HERALD) 1 000 more tractors expected from China
A CONSIGNMENT of 1 000 more tractors and an assortment of other related farming implements worth US$100 million from China is expected to arrive in Zimbabwe in three months’ time. The implements, which include combine harvesters, irrigation pumps, disc harrows, planters and electricity generators, among others, went onto the sea last week, after undergoing compliance inspection tests from a team of Zimbabwean Government officials.
(HERALD) ‘Mechanisation to focus on irrigation’
(added to this blog, on: Friday, July 04, 2008)
Labels: AGRICULTURE, BRIAN CHITUWO, JOBLOSSES, MINERS
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High unemployment levels are a threat to stability – Sacika
Written by George Chellah
Monday, May 18, 2009 4:14:38 PM
HIGH levels of unemployment pose a threat to Zambia's social and political stability, former secretary to the cabinet Sketchely Sacika has said. And Sacika said the government is being irresponsible by failing to protect jobs in the mines and urged them to be proactive when dealing with job loses. In an interview, Sacika advised the government to address the job loses that were currently taking place.
"The government is being irresponsible by failing to protect the jobs in the mines and also in the entire economy because job loses are not only taking place on the mines. They are taking place everywhere," Sacika said.
"The levels of unemployment in Zambia today are already too high and they pose a threat to the social and political stability of the country. When you have so many hungry people, you are about to have many angry men and women."
He said given the size of the country's labour force, the formal sector employment was too small.
"Only about 10 per cent of the labour force is in formal sector employment. Most of our people are either unemployed or are battling it out in the underpaid and unproductive jobs in the so-called informal sector," Sacika said.
"This is not a healthy situation at all for our country and also our economy. As a matter of fact, we have a fewer formal sector jobs today than we had in 1991 when the MMD came to power. Nearly 20 years and when our labour force was much smaller than it is now."
He said the country had not made any progress at all.
"I just want to give an example, following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in Southern Rhodesia and the position taken by Kaunda's government was... because of the political situation in that country, there was a threat to the economic stability in Zambia," Sacika explained.
"In order to protect the economy and also the jobs, Kaunda took several measures which included prohibiting employers from dismissing their employees. If Kaunda had not taken those measures, Zambia would have collapsed as a country. Although the economy at the time was still in private hands, Kaunda saw the need to act to protect people."
Sacika said the government must be proactive when faced with problems in order to manage the situation.
"Unfortunately, our government has folded its arms and it's doing nothing about the job loses in the country. About the inability of our economy to generate jobs. Our young ones are growing up in despair and this is not good at all because they have no jobs," said Sacika.
"It's up to the government to give them hope. It's up to us, the adults, to give them hope. The government attitude that it is business as usual is completely wrong because our economic situation is already desperate."
Labels: DR. SKETCHLEY SACIKA, JOBLOSSES, UNEMPLOYMENT
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First Quantum profits plunge
Written by Nchima Nchito Jr
Thursday, May 14, 2009 3:56:51 PM
FIRST Quantum Minerals (FQM) Limited has recorded a 94 per cent plunge in profits during the first quarter of 2009. And FQM revealed a 16 per cent increment in copper production to 60,838 tonnes for its Kansanshi Copper Mine in Solwezi.
According to Mining Weekly, FQM attributed the drop in profits to a sharp drop in copper prices and a hedging loss.
The company further warned that tight smelter capacity in Zambia could push copper production costs higher if the company was forced to ship its copper concentrate to smelters further afield.
FQM earned US $10.9 million, or 16 US cents a share, in the quarter that ended March 31, 2009. That was a downward dive from a profit of US $182 million, or US $2.7 a share, in the same period last year.
The results were further hit by a US $32.5 million after-tax loss on copper hedges entered early in the quarter to protect the company against a further drop in the metal.
However, rather than continuing to fall, copper rallied 30 percent during the first quarter, resulting in the largely non-cash charge.
And FQM stated that the decrease in copper prices and the continuing local smelter capacity constraints led to a fall in operating profit of Kansanshi mine.
“At the end of the quarter, 13,822 tones of copper in concentrates were stockpiled at site compared to 14,416 tones at December 31, 2008,” the company stated.
FQM added that Kasanshi mine had been adversely hit by the new tax regime, specifically export levies and the increase in the royalty rate that were enacted in the second quarter of 2008.
FQM stated that the increase in copper production at the mine was due to the sulphide circuit expansion which was commissioned during the second quarter of 2008 and continued up to full production in 2008.
“This expansion resulted in a 72 per cent increase in sulphide ore throughput and a 49 per cent increase in copper in concentrate production. This was partially offset by a 13 per cent decline in copper cathode production from the oxide circuit as lower grade ore was processed.” stated FQM.
Labels: FIRST QUANTUM MINING, JOBLOSSES
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KCM retrenchments to hit 2,000
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 4:05:27 PM
KONKOLA Copper Mines (KCM) has disclosed that the ongoing programme to cut operational costs in the wake of collapsed copper prices will lead to 2,000 job losses. Early this year, KCM retrenched about 700 miners after closing the Nkana Copper Smelter.
"The second programme of manpower reduction is under progress right now, which is (for) around 1,300 people," KCM director operations Jeyakumar Janakraj said during an analyst call conference monitored in South Africa last week.
However, Janakraj did not give a timeframe for the exercise.
He said KCM felt that the proposed job cuts would help the mining company to further overcome the negative aspect of the high production costs in its operations in the country.
"The cost that stood at H1 numbers of US$2.93 per pound has been brought down to a level of US $1.4 per pound, which is around 140 US cents per pound by various actions on the ground," said Janakraj.
KCM recently cut its production cost by about 50 per cent to US $1.4 per pound by undertaking cost reduction programme, which included the closure of the Nkana Smelter in Kitwe.
Vedanta Resources Plc, the majority shareholders in KCM, had earlier said it was looking to rationalise its workforce and reduce overall costs in its operations by 30 per cent to tide over the economic downturn.
Vedanta Resources Plc further said it was also adhering to efficient mining and wastage reduction programmes to reduce its production costs.
Last February, KCM retrenched 700 workers after closing the Nkana smelter as part of the measures to reduce the high operational costs for the mine which produces over 50 per cent of the country's total copper output.
Recently, KCM stated that it had arrived at a decision to lay off 1,300 workers.
KCM head of corporate affairs Rahul Kharkar stated that the decision to lay off workers was aimed at streamlining the operations of the mining firm.
"Under the current prevailing economic conditions, Konkola Copper Mines management announces that in line with its efforts to streamline operations, increase labour productivity and production, has arrived at a decision to retrench 1,300 employees across various departments," stated Kharkar in a statement. "This decision has been arrived at following discussions with various stakeholders. The Labour Commissioner in Lusaka was informed as per laid down procedures."
Over 10,000 jobs have been lost in the country's mining industry following the fall in copper prices on the international market.
Labels: JOBLOSSES, KCM
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Zain retrenches 96
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Sunday, May 10, 2009 5:20:55 PM
ZAIN Zambia Plc has laid off 96 employees with immediate effect.
In a statement issued on Friday, Zain Zambia managing director David Holliday stated that 58 of the staff affected were permanent employees while 38 were casual workers. The 96 employees pruned by Zain Zambia are out of the company’s total workforce of 700.
“As part of these changes, Zain Zambia is shedding 96 jobs with immediate effect. Zain Zambia expects the reduction in the number of staff to be achieved through a combination of redeployment, non-renewal of contracts, and redundancies,” Holliday stated.
He added that the decision to lay off some of the workers was in line with similar changes being carried out at in all Zain operations in the Middle East and Africa.
He stated that the new method of operation would involve centralisation of capabilities across all of Zain's 23 operations in order to maximise economies of scale and realise significant efficiencies and cost savings. “Zain has undertaken a review of its operations to ensure it is best able to deliver improved services and quality to its customers, and to make sure we can do this as efficiently and as cost-effectively as possible,” Holliday stated. “The goal of the revisions was to make sure Zain had the right structure in place across all its operational areas to address market challenges in Zambia going forwards, and to align itself with the recently announced ‘Drive 2011’ group-wide plans for greater efficiency.”
Holliday also stated that Zain Zambia Plc would be working closely with employees to assist with the transition and also ensure that any impacted employees were treated with respect and dignity consistent with the company’s values.
According to the statement, since 2005, Zain has invested more than US $12 billion in Africa, and in excess of US $500 million in Zambia. And for this year alone, Zain will pump in more than US $1 billion of investments in its networks in Africa as part of the Company's drive to bring the latest world class technology to its customers.
Last week, Zain Group announced that it would align its head office and operations structures in accordance with the new operating model and that the move would result in Zain reducing its current 15,500 global workforce by 2,000, a reduction equivalent to a 13 per cent across the board.
Labels: JOBLOSSES, ZAIN ZAMBIA LIMITED PLC
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COMMENT - Why do even the unions keep asking for jobs to be maintained? Isn't it clear that the dogmatic and ideological decision to privatise the mines has failed, and that this is no way to run an economy? The miners should not be asking for jobs - they should be taking over the mines, and the government must help them doing so. They can get them on so many things - violation of environmental and labour laws, and not last, on tax evasion (look who didn't pay the windfall tax and get them on that). It is a chance for the MMD to show they are not corrupt, and stand with their own citizens. Also, mining is a very inefficient way to create jobs - agriculture can create 10 x more jobs with 1/10th of the investment - which is why money should be poured from mining into agriculture, infrastructure and manufacturing.
Govt has failed to protect jobs for miners – Mukanga
Written by Chibaula Silwamba, Kabanda Chulu and Mutuna Chanda
Friday, May 08, 2009 4:39:50 PM
THE government has failed to protect jobs for the miners despite assurances, Kantanshi member of parliament Yamfwa Mukanga has charged. And Patriotic Front (PF) chairperson for labour Davies Mwila has said there is no justification for Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) to retrench workers when copper prices have started increasing on the international markets.
In an interview on Tuesday, Mukanga, whose constituents in Mufulira town have been hard hit by retrenchments of MCM, said people were desperate because they had no means of survival.
"[Labour minister Austin] Liato had lied that no company had notified the government that it will retrench workers but now people are losing their jobs at Mopani Copper Mines and this has shown that the government doesn't care about these people. People have no jobs while the government is watching from the terraces. That is not good, the government was supposed to get involved to ensure that our people are protected," Mukanga said.
"The President used to assure us. Even the ministers were assuring us but people are still losing jobs. A lot of people have been affected by the lay-offs by Mopani Copper Mines. So many people have lost their jobs at Mopani but the government has kept quiet. Government was supposed to protect them."
Mukanga urged the government to seriously look into the frequent retrenchments of the miners and come up with measures that would mitigate the sufferings of the people in Copperbelt Province.
And commenting on the decision by MCM to retrench 978 miners at both Nkana and Mufulira mines, Mwila said in Lusaka that President Rupiah Banda's government must be blamed for failing to protect its own citizens.
"There is no control from this government and investors are doing things on their own. Just recently, President Banda's ministers assured that there will be no job losses but this is contrary to what they said," Mwila said.
"When copper prices dropped, investors used that as an excuse to lay off workers but there is no justification by Mopani to prune workers since prices on the international market have started rising [US$ 4,600 per tonne] and their production costs are well below what they are selling these commodities."
On Lusaka economist Chibamba Kanyama's suggestion that redundancy packages should be revised to reflect investor challenges, Mwila said Kanyama was part of management and should not be taken seriously.
"Zambia Federation of Employers has been advocating that retrenchment package of two months salary for a year served is too much and Kanyama is also supporting that view, but what is that package when someone has just worked for five years because it comes to between K15 million to K20 million that will also be taken by banks since most loans are salary based," said Mwila.
"There is no need to review the Act on redundancy packages because workers are getting peanuts in fact it must be increased upwards to avoid workers becoming destitute."
United Party for National Development (UPND) national youth chairperson Joe Kalusa said mining investors in the country were playing the drums while the MMD government was just dancing.
Kalusa challenged labour deputy minister Simon Kachimba to disclose the deal he allegedly struck with the mines.
"The retrenchments at Mopani are not genuine since expatriates have not been affected and last week Kachimba said there will be no job losses but since people have been retrenched he should tell us what deal he struck with the mines for him to make that announcement," Kalusa said.
"Copper prices are still high but the MMD government has no control and they are playing double standards, it is like investors are playing drums and this government is just dancing instead of taking charge."
And Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) general secretary Oswell Munyenyembe blamed government for its sluggish approach in dealing with job losses in the mining industry.
Munyenyembe said the problem was with government because it was not eager to meet trade unions in the mining sector over the plight of workers in the industry.
"... We have been pressing to meet them particularly the President [Rupiah Banda] to give them the actual issues on the ground but they have not been forthcoming," Munyenyembe said.
"What is more confusing is that the minister of mines and the minister of labour are saying that they were not informed of the latest job losses at Mopani. Government is confusing its citizens."
He expressed disappointment with Mopani over the retrenchments arguing that the lay offs were not justified at the current copper prices.
"At the current copper prices we don't expect Mopani to be offloading those numbers," said Munyenyembe. "The recession is just an excuse."
National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) president Mundia Sikufele said it was difficult to trust the promises of a stop to job losses in the mining industry.
Sikufele said it was sad that miners were losing jobs.
"Companies and government will say one thing today and what happens after is different," said Sikufele. "I'm hoping that this is the last retrenchment."
National Energy Sector and Allied Workers Union (NESAWU) general secretary Yotam Mtayachalo urged mining companies in agreement with unions and workers to sacrifice certain conditions and benefits as an interim measure to save jobs.
"When times are hard, it pays to make tough and unpopular decisions which will be beneficial in future and this demands unity among the workers and leaders. The auto mobile workers in America have made such bold decisions to protect jobs of their members. It is better to be in employment than get meagre redundancy packages and offloaded in the streets," he stated.
Mtayachalo also called on Mopani to rescind its decision to retrench union branch leaders.
Kankoyo PF member of parliament Percy Chanda suggested that the retrenched miners could engage in small scale copper mining in the slug dumps and sell the products to Mopani.
He urged government to facilitate the practice by engaging Mopani to enable the retrenched miners to continue with their livelihoods.
He said while other retrenched miners in other areas could engage in farming, it was not possible for those who were retrenched in Kankoyo area because the soil was contaminated as a result of the emissions of sulphur dioxide.
On Monday, MCM retrenched at least 978 workers of whom over 500 are from Nkana in Kitwe and over 400 from Mufulira to ensure the survival of the mine.
The sources indicated that the mining firm had also closed some of its departments that included industrial engineering and In Situ at Nkana in Kitwe.
Labels: DAVIES MWILA, JOBLOSSES, JOE KALUSA, MCM, MUNDIA SIFUKELE, NEOLIBERALISM, OSWELL MUNYENYEMBE, YAMFWA MUKANGA, YOTAM MTAYACHALO
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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
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Mopani retrenches 978 workers
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka
Tuesday, May 05, 2009 11:00:45 PM
MOPANI Copper Mines (MCM) has retrenched 978 workers. And Zain Zambia Plc is expected to discharge some workers as the country's leading mobile phone company restructures operations in line with its parent company, Zain Group which is streamlining global operations to reach growth targets by 2011.
Sources told The Post that MCM on Monday laid off over 500 workers in Kitwe and over 400 in Mufulira. The sources indicated that the mining firm had also closed some of its departments that included industrial engineering and In Situ at Nkana in Kitwe.
And one of the retrenched Mopani workers, Haggai Chishimba, who spoke in disbelief, said he did not know what to do.
"Why should the government contradict itself?" asked Chishimba. "Today it says it's going to stop pruning and the next day the investor does something else."
Chishimba, who was in the company of fellow MCM retrenchees, said the government knew beforehand that workers would be retrenched going by mines minister Maxwell Mwale's silence.
"I don't know what to do next because the Copperbelt depends on the mines. We've got loans with Barclays and Barclays is getting everything," Chishimba said.
Another retrenched miner O'Brien Musenge, who was retrenched while he was on shift, said the workers should have been given time to prepare their exit other than an immediate-effect-pruning.
Lawrence Banda, complained that the retrenchment package was too little as it was K7 million less than those of his peers who were retrenched in February.
And according to letters handed to some of the miners signed by Mopani chief processing officer T. Gonzales and dated April 30, 2009, the mining company pruned workers it considered excess labour.
"Following reorganisation and labour rationalisation at Mopani Copper Mines Plc, you have been identified as excess to the labour requirement in your department," stated Gonzales. "Therefore, we wish to advise that your employment with this company has been terminated. Accordingly, your last shift will be 4th May, 2009, on which date all employment obligations shall cease. You will be paid terminal benefits for your service as follows: i) two months' pay for each completed year of service pro rata. ii) repatriation allowance in accordance with conditions of employment and service. iii) one month's pay in lieu of notice. iv) your accrued MCM (Mopani Copper Mines) pension in accordance with pension rules. v) long service award if you have completed nine or 19 or 29 years of continuous service. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the service you have rendered and wish you success in your future endeavours."
Efforts to reach Mopani officials failed as mobile phones for both chief executive officer Emmanuel Mutati and chief services officer Passmore Hamukoma went unanswered.
And Patriotic Front (PF) Mufulira district vice-chairperson Francis Mumba expressed particular concern at the retrenchment of medical personnel at the Mopani-run Malcom Watson Hospital.
"Why retrench medical personnel when we have a big shortage of medical personnel in the country?" he wondered.
Mumba said people on the Copperbelt were tired of retrenchments.
"These investors are running this country and not the government. Today the investors say they have rescinded the decision and will not fire workers and then they turn around and say they will fire workers," Mumba said. "Government should put its foot down and say enough is enough."
Last week, MCM rescinded its decision to close its Mufulira operation and place its shafts in Kitwe under care and maintenance.
The company was considering closing some operations and place some under care and maintenance owing to the fall in world copper prices from highs of close to US $9,000 per tonne early to mid last year to around US $3,000 per tonne later in the same year.
Following the Mopani announcement last week, labour deputy minister Simon Kachimba indicated that there would be some "minor injuries" to the Mopani workforce.
Kachimba after meeting management at Mopani, said that the workforce, which stood at 7,264 would remain in the regions of 7,000.
However, the 978 laid off on Monday bring the labour force at Mopani to 6,286.
And Zain Group will reduce its current 15,500 global workforce by 2,000 across the board.
"The Zain Group will align its head office and operations structures in accordance with the new operating model. This will result in Zain reducing its current 15,500 global workforce by 2,000 [equivalent to a 13 per cent reduction] across the board," disclosed the Group through a statement made available by Zain Zambia Plc public relations officer Kennedy Mambwe in response to a press query from The Post.
The confirmation from the Kuwait headquartered company followed growing anxiety among most Zain Zambia Plc employees who recently feared for their jobs after management recently sent them a memo informing them about the impending job losses which was likely to be implemented by August this year.
It was not immediately clear how many workers would be fired from the Zambian branch and when the restructuring would be implemented.
The statement also disclosed that Zain operations in Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malawi and Sierra Leone had already begun the process of reducing employment levels.
The pending countries were Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
However, there was little indication that the ongoing reforms were triggered by the current global economic crisis.
The statement announced that Zain Group chief executive officer Dr Saad Al Barrak announced a new programme to propel the company towards its 2011 target of being a top ten global mobile telecommunications operator following a strategic meeting with senior Zain executives from all 22 African and Middle East operations.
According to the statement, "Drive2011" would focus on customer facing services and commercial activities while centralising or outsourcing some back office/non-core functions to strategic partners.
"Drive2011 is a natural consequence of Zain's evolutionary journey. It was planned soon after the launch of our ACE strategy in 2007 and is a structured and timetabled approach to maximising efficiency," Dr Al Barrak commented. "We will create genuine market differentiation through our services and deliver on our Zain brand promise of 'a wonderful world'. This will be achieved through a combination of managed outsourcing, centralisation and leveraging capabilities, as well as training and development for our personnel, all of which will improve our operating efficiencies."
The statement further noted that the new strategy, which comes at a vital stage of the company's "3x3x3" vision that commenced in 2003, would maximise economies of scale and realise significant efficiencies, allowing Zain to provide communication services such as voice, SMS [Short Message Service] and data at an optimum cost structure.
"Drive2011 is expected to improve Zain's operating margin by five per cent within 12 months and provide the company the necessary thrust to capture the future growth potential of the markets in which it operates," the statement read in part.
Additionally, the statement also announced during the same meeting, Dr Al Barrak also made several senior management changes both at Group and country operation level, a move aimed at tackling the challenges ahead and attaining other 2011 targets of 150 million customers and a US $6 billion EBITDA.
Most Zain Zambia Plc workers had in recent times been gripped by fear following the recent intimation of the impending retrenchments by management at the company which controls about 78 per cent of the mobile phone sector in the country.
"You can't have a peace of mind when you know that each time you go for work in the morning, you might be given a letter of terminating your contract," said one employee who declined to be named.
Labels: JOBLOSSES, MCM, MOPANI, ZAIN ZAMBIA LIMITED PLC
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