Munyenyembe was a rare voice of reason - Simuusa
By Mwila Chansa-Ntambi in Mufulira
Mon 13 Feb. 2012, 12:59 CAT
A MULTITUDE of people from all sectors of society on Saturday converged in Mufulira to pay their last respects to late Mineworkers Union of Zambia president Oswell Munyenyembe who died in a road accident last Tuesday.
And National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) president Mundia Sikufele has urged the labour movement in Zambia to use Munyenyembe's death to reflect and re-organise itself.
Meanwhile, mines minister Wylbur Simuusa says the government regarded the late Munyenyembe as a rare breed of a brave and courageous trade unionist.
Traffic moved slowly on the Kitwe-Chingola and Mufulira-Sabina roads as hundreds of mourners drove to the border town of Mufulira to pay their last respects to Munyenyembe whose body was interred at Chatulinga Cemetery.
Notable among those that attended the funeral were Simuusa, his deputy Richard Musukwa, works and supply deputy minister Mwenya Musenge, Copperbelt minister Davies Mwila, deputy secretary to the Cabinet in charge of administration Teddy Mulonga, ZCTU president Leonard Hikaumba, Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia president Joyce Nonde-Simukoko, politicians from diverse political parties, miners and ordinary citizens.
And delivering the funeral sermon, Rev Chizason Chunda, of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian where Munyenyembe congregated, described the late trade unionist as an exceptional leader and a role model both to the Church and society at large.
Rev Chunda observed that many people might be asking questions as to why God allowed Munyenyembe to die in a tragic accident but they should remember that there was time for everything and that God's time was the best.
He observed that Munyenyembe used the time that God accorded him on earth properly because he dedicated his entire life to fighting for the betterment of human kind and fighting against injustice.
Rev Chunda added that Munyenyembe was a friend to many as could be evidenced by the multitudes that turned up to pay their last respects to him.
He challenged people to take stock of their lives and gauge whether they were using the time God had given them on earth properly.
Rev Chunda added that it did not matter how long a person lived on earth but that what mattered was how that person utilised the time that God gave them on earth.
And speaking at the burial site, Sikufele asked the Zambian labour movement to be united and seek God's guidance so that He could reveal the meaning of Munyenyembe's death.
"The voice of the labour movement which has seemingly become dim should be stronger and we should use this period to re-organise ourselves and serve the people," said Sikufele.
MUZ general secretary Chishimba Nkole said Munyenyembe's death had left a big gap in the oldest union in the mining industry in Zambia.
Nkole urged mourners to ensure that they continued showing their love for Munyenyembe by looking after his children and widow.
Hikaumba said Munyenyembe's demise was a ‘cruel thief' that had robbed the nation of a gallant and courageous leader.
Hikaumba said even though Munyenyembe was offered to stand as a member of parliament on a named political party's seat during last year's elections, he opted to continue representing workers.
And Simuusa said Munyenyembe was a rare voice of common sense and reason and that his contribution to the labour movement was unmatched.
He also said the PF government wanted to see a united and strong labour movement adding that previously, there were deliberate efforts to fragment and weaken the voice of workers.
Munyenyembe is survived by a wife Charity, six children and one grandchild.
He attended primary education in Muyombe; his secondary education in Malawi before studying architecture at the Zambia Institute of Technology (ZIT) which is now the Copperbelt University.
He began his trade union career at branch level in 1983 and rose through the ranks to become general secretary and eventually president, a position he held until his death last week.
Labels: LABOUR, MUNDIA SIFUKELE, MUZ, NUMAW, OSWELL MUNYENYEMBE, WYLBUR SIMUUSA
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‘Mining concessions are enough to keep investors’
Written by Kabanda Chulu and Fridah Zinyama
MINING concessions are enough to make investors stay in the country, National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) president Mundia Sikufele has said, further challenging finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane to stop linking windfall taxes to the non-attraction of investments.
And Bank of Zambia deputy governor Denny Kalyalya has said the 2010 budget targets are realistic and aimed at bringing back the Zambian economy on the recovery path.
Meanwhile, Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) president Chintu Mulendema has said the 2010 budget has tried to capture most of the issues which are affecting the Zambian economy.
In his 2010 budget presentation last Friday, Dr Musokotwane expressed concern over critics who he said did not seem to appreciate the importance of failing to secure mining jobs and were advocating laws that might scare-away investors.
But Sikufele said government had again failed the people of Zambia for not putting up measures that would have allowed a huge percentage of mining profits to remain in the country.
“Having listened to the budget, as miners we are left with no option since we feel being treated like Cinderella’s. Currently the mining sector is booming and we expect to get something and it is wrong to link the windfall tax to non-attraction of investments since this tax only comes into play when there is unprecedented boom whereby the mines make super profits,” Sikufele said.
“So to whose interest is Dr Musokotwane and his team discarding windfall taxes and do they think Zambia is for charity and why should Zambia perpetually beg when we can do something about the various challenges we face?”
He said Botswana had reached medium income status because the government had put in place measures to ensure that 65 per cent of mineral wealth was retained in the country.
“Re-introducing windfall tax will not scare away investors since they have concessions that can make then stay and operate comfortably,” said Sikufele.
“Dr Musokotwane should not pretend that things are alright especially that mines were given chance when copper prices dropped to below US $ 3,000 per metric tonne but now it is over US $ 6,000 per metric tonne and we still want to give the mines a chance so at what level are we going to benefit as Zambians.”
However, Dr Musokotwane argued that the beginning of 2009 was a difficult environment but government managed to perform well and that the revised 4.3 per cent growth rate was achievable.
“Had it not been for bold decisions by government, the mining industry and the whole economy would have been in ruins today and it is against this background that changes were made to the mining tax regime,” said Dr Musokotwane.
Last Friday, Dr Musokotwane unveiled a K16.71 trillion budget for next year but ignored the calls from many Zambians to bring back the mining windfall tax, claiming that the taxes would scare away investors.
And former finance minister Ng’andu Magande said the budget would only give hope to Zambians when there was a serious implementation of projects in the sectors that required attention in the short to medium term.
“Generally it is looking good and if money is spent and projects implemented then there can be hope to uplift Zambians out of poverty,” he said.
When asked if it was wrong for Dr Musokotwane to leave out the mining sector in his budget speech, Magande said the speech did not contain everything.
“Speech doesn’t include everything but we have to read through the yellow book to see what will be gotten from the mines and I hope they have not asked for incentives because they got everything they wanted in the 2009 budget,” said Magande.
And Dr Kalyalya said the targets set out in the 2010 budget were realistic and tenable.
“In view of the global crisis, the trajectory set out in the budget is very clear especially if agriculture continues to perform better, the targets are realistic and they look tenable because we can exceed five per cent growth rate and eight percent inflation rate,” said Dr Kalyalya.
“We are emerging from a crisis and this budget is an attempt to bring us back to where we have been previously and if all those projects in agriculture, manufacturing and tourism take off, then Zambia shall soon be on the recovery path.”
And during a post budget dinner discussion held on Friday night, Mulendema acknowledged the challenges Dr Musokotwane could have faced in coming up with a national budget to address most of the issues the economy was facing due to effects of the global financial crisis.
“...2009 was a very difficult year for government as Zambia was experiencing the effects of the Global financial crisis,” he said. “Most sectors of the economy like the mining sector suffered job losses, trade declined and the tourism sector witnessed a reduction in the number of tourists coming to Zambia,” he said.
Mulendema said it was therefore government’s objective to try and rectify some of the problems which had been created by the recession in the national budget. And Dr Musokotwane said although the economic environment had been challenging, the country was on course to record the targeted growth rate of 4.3 per cent.
“I am still optimistic that Zambia could still attain the five per cent growth rate if things continue going at the rate at which they are going,” he said.
Dr Musokotwane said 2009 had been a difficult year for government as they experienced a budget deficit of about three per cent.
“We had compressed revenue as some of the estimates that we had made failed to come through due to the economic crisis,” he said.
Dr Musokotwane said balance of payment (BoP) from exports had gone down and imports were also affected due to the depreciation of the kwacha.
“Imports had gone down by 34 per cent,” he said. “Because our budget is also dependent on tax revenues, we failed to capture most of it because of a reduction in customs duty and value added tax.”
He explained that in order for government to be able to function well in the face of reduced revenues, they had to increase domestic borrowing.
“The country’s indebtedness is going to go up but this cannot be helped if we are to find funds to implement most of our developmental programs,” said Dr Musokotwane.
“Other countries are equally experiencing indebtedness, so we cannot exactly avoid that particular route.”
And giving a socio-economic analysis of the budget, Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) member Lloyd Sichilongo said Zambia’s growth rate was expected to weaken due to the effects of the global financial crisis.
“This is because there has been a reduction in revenue from the mining sector, the largest contributor to the country’s economy,” said Sichilongo.
Labels: BUDGET, DENNY KALYALYA, MINING, MUNDIA SIFUKELE, NUMAW, TAXATION, WINDFALL TAX
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Mines unions want mineral royalties hiked
Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 18:03
The National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) has supported calls by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for government to increase the mineral royalties and corporate taxes in order to increase its revenue.
Commenting on IMF’s calls that government should increased mineral royalties and corporate taxes to enhance the country’s revenue, NUMAW president Mundia Sikufele said the current mineral taxes collections were not sufficient enough for country to benefit from.
Mr. Sikufele told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that there was need for the government to quickly revise taxes in order for the people in the mining sector to have an opportunity to benefit from the country’s mineral resources.
He noted that since most of Zambian citizens were in the informal sector, there was need to increase mineral royalties for government to have more revenue.
He explained that by increasing the mineral royalties, people in the mining sector will also be given a chance to contribute to the economic growth of the country through paying other taxes.
Meanwhile the Private Sector Development Association (PSDA) has advised government to treat mineral taxes like any other business taxes in the country.
PSDA Chairperson, Yusuf Dodia, said in a separate interview that government should consider keeping the mine taxes constant at all times if it is to expand its revenue collection base.
Mr. Dodia said there no need for government to change the taxes whenever copper prices fluctuate on the international market.
He said government should ensure that taxes were maintained in a concession manner and not to make them exorbitant.
He pointed out that the reason why government has failed to make meaningful gains from the mine taxes was due to lack of having permanent corporate mineral taxes for the mining sector.
Mr. Dodia further challenged investors in the mining sector to take advantage of rising copper prices on the international market and make significant contributions to the development of the sector and the country as a whole.
ZANIS
Labels: IMF, MINING, MUNDIA SIFUKELE, NUMAW, PSDA, WINDFALL TAX, YUSUF DODIA
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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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