By Tovin Ngombe:
Confusion is reigning among the Maamba Coal Mine retrenchees over the one billion Kwacha that government has released to pay them.
Million Mudenda one of the Committee member for the retrenchees in the new executive said two camps have been created out of the 340 members.
He said problem begun when the old executive committee was voted out of office and a new one was ushered in.
Mr. Mudenda said the old committee has rejected to work with the new one and have refused to accept the lawyer representing the new committee Mr. Mwiya Imenda from the Veritas Chambers a law firm for Mr Mundia Sikatana.
He said 80 people have defected from the 340 retrenchees because they would want to have their own lawyer to represent them over the same case that they already won through the Veritas Chambers.
Mudenda said the group that had defected had been allegedly writing disparaging letters to the Veritas Chambers for no apparent reason.
He said the defecting group being represented by Boniface Chola filed in an injunction over the one billion kwacha that government released to pay the retrenchees until their matter was held in court.
Mr. Mudenda said the Lusaka high court throw out their case because it had terrible errors and they were told to seek legal advice.
He said the bickering among the retrenchees have delayed the release of their money.
“ Right now our children are stuck they cannot go to School because our money is held up at the bank because of people’s hidden agendas, we have never had this problems even with other previous committees,†Mudenda said.
Three months ago when government released K800, 000,000 Mr Chola’s group withheld the flash disk containing vital information for the previous payment made to each retrenchees.
The new executive for the retrenches stormed Maamba police to have their matter resolved but they failed until the Sinazongwe District Commissioner (DC) Laiven Apuleni intervened.
