4 November 2009
THE Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has condemned the emerging culture of name-calling and insults among the political leaders in the country and called for peaceful co-existence.
ZCTU secretary general, Roy Mwaba said in Lusaka yesterday that political leaders regardless of their parties should find issues on which to rally together for the development of the nation.
He told delegates from ZCTU affiliate unions, who were attending a two-day post budget workshop at Lusaka Hotel that even splendid development programmes could not be properly implemented in an environment of acrimony.
He urged the leaders to tone down on attacks on one another, saying politicians should promote the culture of peace and co-existence in the country.
He said the exchange of bitter words between leaders from the Patriotic Front-United Party for National (PF-UPND) pact and those from the MMD was not healthy and urged them to work together.
Later, during the official opening of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES)-sponsored workshop, Mr Mwaba said the labour movement was concerned that the Government had rejected various proposals made by ZCTU during the Budget formulation process.
He said that ZCTU had hoped that the threshold for the Pay-as-You -Earn would be raised to K1.5 million and that funding to the three public universities would be increased but that had not been done.
Mr Mwaba said the labour movement would have loved the Government to make a concrete decision on the Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) and the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority.
In response, Deputy Finance and National Planning Minister, Chileshe Kapwepwe said the Government could not resolve all national issues using a budget for one year and called for patience.
Ms Kapwepwe said the Government had prioritised the allocation of resources to ensure critical areas were catered for, noting that the withdrawal of donor support from the health sector meant that the Government had to juggle some resources from other areas to the critical sector.
Meanwhile, the National Energy Sector and Allied workers Union (NESAWU) has appealed to politicians to stop the personal attacks on President Rupiah Banda.
NESAWU general secretary Yotam Mtayachalo said in a statement released in Ndola yesterday that it was unfortunate that some politicians had continued to attack the president without justification.
He said that as long as there was no evidence, the people of Zambia would continue regarding those behind the media campaign suggesting the President was corrupt as disgruntled elements.
"It is difficult for the president to respond whenever he is attacked in the media and its unfair for some people who are even privileged to have a one to one talk with the president to launch a campaign of daily attacks on the head of State," he said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Times of Zambia. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
