Poverty levels among the Luvale people in Northwestern Province are still on the increase despite the opening of the Kasanshi and Lumwana mines in Solwezi.
Chairperson of the Society for Poverty Reduction, John Lijimu, said majority of those employed in the mines were people from other provinces and not the Luvales.
He complained that people were still wallowing in abject poverty despite opening of the mines.
Mr Lijimu said in an interview in Kitwe today that government should devise a deliberate policy that would compel people from the area given the first priority of being employed when vacancies were able.
And Mr Lijimu has called on the government through the Road Development Agency to begin levying heavy trucks transporting copper and other minerals from Northwestern province.[quote]
He said the money to be raised from these trucks could be channeled towards the repair of the road.
Mr Lijimu said currently the state of the chingola-Solwezi road has become an eyesore because it has been damaged by the heavy trucks.
The chairperson suggested that government should also allow investors to open up a railway line to Solwezi as this was the cheapest way of transporting goods other than by road.
ZANIS
The railway thing makes sense
Who has been denied employment (with qualifications)from western province?Tribalism again?Awe twakana.
Please avaoid tribal remaks. There are so many tribes in N/West but why single out the Luvales? What should be said is that the mines are not benefiting the people of N’western because of this and that…..
Thats where Teta Mashimba comes from as an MP and what do you expect when he is busy buying heases (manda mandas)? Mwilalaba Bwangu
Tetamashimba what about this luvale guy, is he not going to the tribunal?, because this is tribalism at it’s best, n/western province has a lot of tribes and not luvales only, and if those luvale’s have no required what papers do you expect from the mine. do they know pronto,or the computer work? be reasonable man, we are all zambians.
Is employment not supposed to be on merit? What about the level of education, qualification for the job and experience. In my view we should not look at the tribe of is to be employed in a certain area. All Zambian must be given equal opportunities and a level playing field to compete. At Lumwana for example, the locals were on the list for employment, but most of them were unable to read and write which was a basic requirement. Can the employer wait for them to go back to School. This issue of mentioning tribe should end.
required papers what do you expect
Maybe John Lijimu’s observation is tribal too.
Much as some of us are luvales we donot condone such statements its purely immature to issue such statements. please let the man consider qualifications aswell.Besides, government collects money for road repairs but the question is where is it used??? Solwezi road is also a part of our engineers to blame for the shod work that was executed only a few years ago heavy load trucks are just another factor. however, the rail line suggestion is welcome although the whole event seems to be politically driven from the time Kavindele initiated the idea i wonder whats holding up??
to bad my mbuyazzzz, u will suffer i will come for yo burials. Sad situation any way, if its true to bad i hav got about 4 freinds of mine who hav also lost employement that side besides their qualifications, its just sad the way things ar moving just around the world not only solwezi has been heat even other towns. RB wake up just a bit and see wat u can do iknow u ar trying thu with a lot of MISTAKES along yo way. Yo Gvmt is like the movie 24, u hav to be sharp
If it was somebody else ngalwanya. Tribalism in Zambia will not be condoned. I remember, Sawdust as Minister of Labour saying that if he didn’t employ people from his Province and tribe, who would? Elina Nyikosa, wherever she is, complaining about how they were being treated as Namazayi’s during the Federal days. Teta’s remarks, too. It always has to be someone from N/W. This will not be allowed. Not in a generation where even the US of America can have a black President. Look at Chilala, he is a Tonga prospering in Mkushi, a Lala/Swaka land. Elsewhere people would have been complaining. We should not look at someones origin or tribe, but the fact that (s)he is Zambian. Who else is benefitting from the mines, apart from people with the right qualifications being found at the right…
The poverty levels in N/W will remain high and continueto increase long as the Level of Education is low and remains un attended to.
The low level of Human Index for the local people can cause instability therefore need for the govt to invest in Education, Certainly the local people need to have equal opportunities to compete for these Jobs…To be anle to do so, you need Education..
The richess from Zambias mines must be shared by ALL Zambian tribes, regardless of their geographic or ethnocentric base.
This lijimu guy should have said Zambians still poor despite the mines, good rainfall parterns, a lot of water etc.
Tribal statements should be condemned in strongest terms by all well meaning Zambians.
It is one Zambia one Nation.
solwezi is kaonde not luvale
I am not sure where to go on this one. I am for ‘One Zambia one Nation’, but surely local people should benefit. I am thinking of the situation in Nigerial where people of the Niger delta dont see any of the money at all but just see the environmental destruction. Maybe, there should be a formula of dividing the money so that the local people get their fair share. I know there are schemes in Luangwa where local people directly benefit from tourism. I dont think we should dismiss this issue out of hand because it can breed resentment. Also lets not forget that the reason a lot of people fron NW province not just Luvales do not have educationis because they wlere the most marginalised people in Zambia.
Remember how people used to sing ‘kaluvale songola meno’. I guess there is a bigger question here, how is Zambia and therefore all of its people benefiting from its mineral wealth? There could be some schemes put in place such as local farmers supplying produce to the mines and the mines setting aside a budget to train local people.
He should tell his brothers and sisters to put education first and charcoal burning the least of all activities. Is it tribal if I say these people like to be self reliant in any way. They were the majority in as far as charcoal burning is concerned on the Copperbelt. The other job they specialised in, I dont want to mention HERE because you all know. Majority of the people who got employed in N/Western Mines were retrenchies from CB from all tribes of zambians because they were experienced regardless of their education background.
Sokomuntu, I think the other job that they used to do partly explains why they were so looked down upon by other Zambians.
What happened to the railway project govt took away from Kavindele (who never completes projects!)? These mine owners shouldn’t be allowed to kill our roads. Isn’t it enough that they’re taking away our minerals?
Essentially when jobs are created in any area such should benefit qualified zambians,the local who are unable to get jobs must benefit from improved infrastures that MUST come with this investment eg better hospitals,roads,and several trickle down economic activities that may arise.
jobs for all finish.
How does anyone dare to be surprised? If you give away the mines, why would it be a surprise that local people remain poor? Is everyone finally recognizing that this pursuit of Foreign Direct Investment at all costs only makes “foreign investors” rich? This is not a Luvale issue. The same is true in the Nigerian Delta, or anywhere else in Zambia.
Neoliberalism is a failed economy, that only enriches a few people, and no one else.
The government needs to start taxing the mines (just confiscate every 5th load) and get off ‘donor aid’, which is where all this nonsense comes from. All this chasing after FDI has nothing to do with development, it is completely ideological, and it has to stop.
The economy must develop for the benefit of local people, not foreigners business.
What nonsense?? These Gooners are such tribalists. We don’t need this sh*t. The mine only opened a few months back & this hogwash is coming out damn! That’s why we are so behind because there are people who still think on tribal & nepotism lines. A job is not yours by birth you need to earn it on merit. You must be qualified. If you can’t send you kids to sch how do you expert them to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers etc. Only a gooner would think like this.
If you have a neoliberal government that follows the IMF prescription and gets rid of universal education (which is what they demand from all countries they do business with) without raising people’s incomes, you cannot then turn around and accuse them of not sending their children to school. Or call them names (what is a gooner?).
It is time for some real nationalist leadership. The sooner all politicians let go of the RELIGION of neoliberal economic theory (privatisation, deregulation and free markets for foreign corporations), the sooner the country has a chance to develop.
These ONLY purpose for these mines is to finance economic diversification into agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure. That is their only purpose. Not to ‘bring jobs’ (the ‘trickle’ in trickle down economics), not to get fat cat politicians in the good graces of the IMF so they keep ‘donor aid’ flowing, and most definitely not to make westerners richer than they already are.
It is time for nationalist leadership, not this globalisation nonsense.
wanyanya #2 did you mean Northwestern Province? I don’t think the article says Western or is that your bigotry coming across.
Mr K I guess what you are saying is that Zambia needs a Hugo Chavez?
#28: hugo chavez?????
Heheheheee.
I just cant imagine a Zambian president standing up against the West. No one got the guts. They all want donnor aid and Kulibonesha on their people. We should realize that we are being plundered out of our own resources and we can’t do anything. So, keep crying bane.
Utulo ba luvale
” Mwana wa pa ngoma says:
May 20, 2009 at 8:52 pmMr K I guess what you are saying is that Zambia needs a Hugo Chavez? ”
Yes, absolutely.
Zambian needs someone who will not appease foreign investors, but take the mines and use them to finance other economic sectors.
People, even the IMF and World Bank now, keep talking about ‘economic diversification’, but the mines generate the money to make that happen. How else will it happen? Borrowing? Getting into debt? Or selling out Zambia’s future and the livelihoods of foreign generation on the altar of foreign corporate profits?
So yes, Zambia, in concert with SADC, needs to start benefiting from the mines, which are the only economic activity worth mentioning today.
You bloggas stop talking about tribalism please you have nothing to do ? or what ? thats why we cant develop in africa its because of such sentiments all the time instead of talking about development and strategising the way forward.
i fear we might just go back to the old days where they used fight for peace of lands with this kind of tribal remarks.
#33 wrong spelling piece and NOT peace
The gornvernment did everyithing possible to ensure that the local people are employed in the mines regardless of there tribe as long as one stays in the locality were the mine has been opened.It is a pit to find that what hapened to most of the local people that were employed is that they were leaving on there on after geting payed,they could buy things like radios,bycicles and matrasses and to them that was it they had aleady achived what they wanted. One zambia one nation,triblelism twakana.
Kansashi and Lumwana are not in the Luvale Chiefdoms. Kansanshi is purely for Chief Kapijimpanga a Kaonde chief, Lumwana is in 3 chiefdoms, Munema, Mukumbi and Mujimanzovu all Kaonde Chiefs. The Luvales are in Kabompo and Zambezi. Ba LT do some investigations before you publish n…..se.
THAT EXPLAINS THERE VOTING PATTERN…WHO’S TO BLAME IF TETA HIMSELF CAN BOOST TO BE THE MOST INTTELLIGENT LUVALE!. EVEN THREATEN TO BEAT UP WHOEVER DOES NOT VOTE FOR HIM.wit his callibar..no wonder its undeveloped and for as long as the votting pattern doe not change,rether remain undeveloped,it suits them!
Lambas have had Mines for almost a century, but have not benefited, and you talk of the NWP which has just ka one mine openned recently
With their voting patterns they will remain poor!!! Blame no one but yourselves
The Luvales are not to blame. Every Zambian comes from a province. If these same people (other tribes) were so educated to take up any job, why can’t they use the same education to create jobs in their own provinces? If your province is poor and nothing is happening there, should you blame others? The Luvales have the right to defend themselves, let them go xenophobia, it worked in South Africa. Mushala came from North West to stop the nosense when every body in Zambia was shouting “Kumulu Lesa, panshi Kaunda”. People of North Western are great people.
Here we go again with tribalism. Many Zambians are offspring of parents from different tribes.
If I am not mistaken, the two mines mentioned are in Solwezi which is Kaonde territory. Northwestern province where Solwezi is located is made up of different tribes such as Lunda’s, Chokwe’s, Mbunda’s, Luvale’s, and Kaonde’s. Why should it be the Luvale’s to be marginalised? In fact the people who should complain the most are Kaonde’s in whose area the mines are.Obviously all the people working in these mines were employed based on their ability to work and their qualifications. Kaunda coined the phrase “One Zambia One Nation”. So it doesn’t matter where one comes from as long as they are qualified for the job.