Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Government halts extension of Conditional Work Permits for Expatriates

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Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Stephen Kampyongo stresses a point when he addressed staff at the Zambian High Commission in Pretoria on 2nd February, 2017
Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Stephen Kampyongo stresses a point when he addressed staff at the Zambian High Commission in Pretoria on 2nd February, 2017

Government has with immediate suspended extension of conditional work permits until the system was re-organised to eliminate abuse.

Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo says work permits given to expatriates were brought in by investors to train Zambians hence the halt.

ZANIS reports that Mr. Kampyongo says the process had been abused as some ‘ unscrupulous ‘ Zambians connived with some investors beyond the stipulated period of the permits.

A Committee has since been put in place to re-organise to ensure that the abuse of the permits was eradicated.

The Minister said this in Pretoria, South Africa when he addressed diplomatic staff.

Mr. Kampyongo said the measure was meant to increase the availability of employment opportunities and empower Zambians who were able to take-up positions that had been unduly awarded to expatriates.

“ The renewal of work permits for expatriates would remain suspended while a framework that would benefit Zambians was being devised, “ said the minister.

He affirmed and is determined that the decision is observed in ensuring that there were no more excuses from companies to have their expatriates handover positions to their understudies after the conditional period expired.

Mr Kampyongo said he has had prior consultative meetings with various stakeholders before the decision was finally made.

He directed that officers enforce it for the betterment of the Zambian people.

“We have talked about empowering Zambians for a long time and it’s now time we were practical. We must walk the talk. It is so unfortunate that we’ve had some Zambians colluding with investors and in the process disadvantaging skilled Zambians,” the Minister sounded.

This is contained in a statement issued today by Press Secretary at the Zambian High Commission in South Africa,Nicky Shabolyo.

Meanwhile, The Minister has disclosed that President Edgar Lungu has constituted a new Citizenship Board mandated to start looking at processing of applications for dual citizenship.

Mr. Kampyongo said following inclusion of the Dual Citizenship clause in the new Republican Constitution, appropriate amendments have been made to the Act governing this provision so that it could be operationalized while procedures were being worked on.

He said a Statutory Instrument to this effect will be issued soon.

Mr. Kampyongo said priority would be given to Zambians who had lost their citizenship by virtue of acquiring citizenship of other countries through various ways such as marriage or birth.

“We are now set to start looking at applications and have come up with procedures for this process which we will share with all our mission abroad as well as other stakeholders,” he said.

The Minister further announced that Government has introduced a new digitalized issuance system of national registration card (NRC) to be piloted in Lusaka, Chongwe, Kafue and Chilanga districts.

The new system requires NRC applicants to input their biometric data and stored at a central computerized location.

He said the aim was to turn the National Registration Office into a reservoir and a national data collection Centre which will take stock of all citizens’ statistics.

He said the new system once fully implemented would help deal with weak security features on various Zambian identity documents.

On the common between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the minister revealed that a new visa, known as the Kaza UNIVISA has been introduced to allow tourists to travel with a single document in the neighboring countries adding that this was pegged at US$50.

The Kaza UNIVISA project had been piloted prior to introduction and the two countries were satisfied that this was one of the tools through which tourism could be marketed.

In another development, the Minister has taken a swipe at Mazhandu Bus Services management for allegedly exhibiting lack of seriousness in observing safety measures.

He said Company has experienced a lot of road traffic accidents in the last few months when other transporters such as Euro Bus Services which has been in operation for a longer period have had far less road traffic accidents incidences.

Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba commended Mr. Kampyongo for finding time to brief staff on policy developments in his ministry.

Mr. Mwamba said there have been a lot of immigration issues affecting Zambians in South Africa and that the meeting with diplomatic staff was timely.

Some of the diplomatic staff at the High Commission in Pretoria listen to Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Stephen Kampyongo on 2nd February, 2017
Some of the diplomatic staff at the High Commission in Pretoria listen to Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Stephen Kampyongo on 2nd February, 2017
Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo with High Commissioner Emmanuel Mwamba
Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo with High Commissioner Emmanuel Mwamba
Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Stephen Kampyongo (Centre) speaking when he addressed diplomatic staff at the High Commission in Pretoria. With him are Zambia's High Commissioner to South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Mwamba and Deputy High Commissioner, Ms. Philomena Kachesa. This was on 2nd February, 2017
Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Stephen Kampyongo (Centre) speaking when he addressed diplomatic staff at the High Commission in Pretoria. With him are Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Mwamba and Deputy High Commissioner, Ms. Philomena Kachesa. This was on 2nd February, 2017
Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Stephen Kampyongo (Centre) speaking when he addressed diplomatic staff at the High Commission in Pretoria. With him are Zambia's High Commissioner to South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Mwamba and Deputy High Commissioner, Ms. Philomena Kachesa. This was on 2nd February, 2017
Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Stephen Kampyongo (Centre) speaking when he addressed diplomatic staff at the High Commission in Pretoria. With him are Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Mwamba and Deputy High Commissioner, Ms. Philomena Kachesa. This was on 2nd February, 2017

48 COMMENTS

    • It is not the System that has been abused, It is the Government that has failed to run that System.

      Whos is to blame, is the Government not the unscrupulous persons/

      Thanks

      BB2014,16

    • work permits are too easily obtained in Zambia while Zambians themselves cant find jobs. Why can’t we trust ourselves, that’s the question we need to answer!

    • You should start tackling the issue of fake documents by changing the way you give out the NRC numbers. The NRC number (Number only without the NRC) should be given AT BIRTH instead of waiting till someone turns 16. This same number you give at birth should be the number that people will need to use to get the NRC when they turn 16. All business transactions that a person does, from birth to death, should be attached to this number, including registering a business, getting a driver’s license, passport, paying taxes, opening bank accounts, etc. If someone who is older than 16 wants to get a new NRC, ask them why they don’t have an NRC already. If they tell you because they don’t have a Zambia Social Security Number, ask them why they don’t have it. If they provide a number,…

    • (continued)… double check it with the Zambia Social Security Administration office (the department that’ll be issuing ZSSN) to make sure the number is genuine and it belongs to them, or whether the number is stolen. Once the number has been verified, ask for a Zambian Birth Certificate. That way you’ll catch a lot of crooks. If they tell you that they don’t have the ZSS number or a Zambian Birth Certificate because they’re foreigners, ask them to prove that they’re in the country legally. If they are on a temporary visa, give them a temporary number to use only to get a driver’s license. Once the driver’s license expires and they try to renew it, they should prove that they’re still in immigration status. If their visa has expired they shouldn’t be allowed to renew their…

    • (continued)… driver’s license. Once they become permanent residents or citizens, then you can give them a Zambia Social Security number, as Naturalized Zambian Citizens. Lastly and most importantly, whatever you do to combat fake documents and corruption will not work if you still tolerate corruption in the departments that handle birth certificates, ZSSN, NRC, driver’s license, passports, etc. Any report of any worker giving out documents illegally should be vigorously investigated, the culprit arrested, prosecuted and if convicted sent to prison for not less than 15 years. If you don’t send anyone to prison for corruption, you’ll never control corruption in your department or in Zambia in general. Good luck.

    • I hope this has already been effected and is not mere talk.
      There are far too many Chinese and foreigners in Zambia doing jobs which our jobless children could be doing. So it is a good move. Meanwhile all those involved in the corruption of issuing undeserved work permits should prosecuted.

    • Mushota, like most UPND zealots you were supposed to be born on planet Mars where everything is perfect and bears no room for improvement change.

    • Not just workpermit renewals honourable. These foreigners especially uneducated White South Africans have taken advantage of the loopholes to get OUR Jobs.

      In many cases Zambians are having contracts cancelled only to be replaced with these PIGS. Its about time

  1. pf govt is a visionless sure,how many times has govt talked contradictory staements on dual citizenship,if i may recall after the new const. was passed the then minister said people can start applying and later the ps of home office said wait,later we were told its finalised and now at ecl has put a board to look it dual citizenship,thats what happens when you overlook technocrates,zambian politicians like making news than being pragmatic.

  2. Instead of looking at how other countries are doing it and eliminating such abuse…the solution to them is outright banning like blocking a sewer pipe….to add insult you have a crook in picture.

  3. This is an excellent move! Its about time we took the stance as Zambian’s and start running these companies. As a matter of fact there should be a law in place like our fellow SADC neighbors and other countries around the world where the Board of Directors should be represented by at the Highest levels by Zambian citizens.
    However going forward on this issue we must take a lesson learned from South Africa with the BEE program and Zimbabwe and ensure that a set standard is in place to ensure sustainability and growth within the said companies.
    However at the same token the same Zambian’s that have connived with the said expats must be made an example of so that when this program is in full swing those appointed know and realize that nonsense and corruption will not be tolerated.
    I can…

    • CONT:
      I can only pray that an impartial and dedicated committee will be available to oversee this program, not to enable family members of government officials get a pay check but awarded on merit, that’s the only way that this will work.

    • That is my point also, we should learn from Zimbabwe’s Land Reforms & South Africa’s BEE lessons. Even our previous lessons of nationalisation of the 60s leading us back again to the worst privatisation evil of the 90s, in order to correct mistakes of earlier nationalisation. You can’t trust your citizens 100%, you have to leave at least 95% room for diversity which brings in competition & learning how others do their things. Football clubs have already done this which leave it open for up to 3 players per club. Waking up to Trump’s emotions & copying everything is dangerous. These foreigners have been helping us to put bread & butter on our tables for ages but this has to change by 95% to 98%

  4. Hon. Kampyongo be careful when you are protecting Zambians. Don’t do Mwakalombe’s way of doing things by looking at one class of Zambians only. Surely many unemployed Zambians need the jobs held by undesirable expatriates. However, by suspending issuance of permits all together is also pushing other Zambians who are working as consultants into unemployment & is a huge industry & their dependents. This announcement may send wrong signal to would be investors. Don’t suspend it but just put in stringent measures to accommodate only qualified & desired expatriates as you review it. This also applies for dual citizenship, please consider all Zambians who qualify not only those who have lost their Zambian citizenship.

  5. Careless ban! You fellow citizens will suffer the same sh!t when other countries retaliate! The trouble with our politicians is that they don’t do their home work before announcing things. What is rotten is our system from head to toes!

    • What is wrong is wrong. If those other Countries retaliate, those Zambians will take up freed jobs here. Don’t institutionalize illegalities just because you are benefiting. Illegal issuance of these work permits have cause untold misery on our graduates. It must end. By the way, Its not all work permits the Minister is talking about. Its conditional ones where companies promise that the expats will train a particular Zambian. There are a lot of us who have been abuse by tagging us as “understudies” when they obtain these work permits. I will carry out an investigation. Whoever I will find having used my name as an understudy without my knowledge, I will sue.

    • Ba Pushi, I sympathize with the many young graduates who find themselves stranded in life. However, expatriate permits are not the cause of this situation.
      What has put us in this mess again is our failure to learn from our short history as a nation. For Zambia to grow economically, we need to do what Trump is doing in terms of economic governance – small government, address red tape, reduce cost of doing business, lower taxes and interest rates, then investments will flow in and there will be enough jobs for everybody – Zambian and expatriate. What is happening is the government has made the cake smaller and that is what is causing these fights over a small cake. Bottom line is every country needs Quality Expatriates. It is our corrupt system that is failing us!

  6. NRC Number should be given at birth, not at 16years. We have Chinese, Boers, Kasai’s, Tanzanians, Malawians, Rwandans, Bururndis, Angolans, Zimbabweans, Namibians, Mozambiques, Nigerians walking into the country & the next day they are presidents, managers, Pastors & other influential positions. NRC numbers should be impossible to change. That’s how we can ensure accountability & success of debt recovery.

    Just look at the damage done by foreigners

    KK=a Malawian brought 1-PartyDictatirship, communism & killed entrepreneurship
    FTJ = a Kasai destroyed economy & brought corruption
    RB & Sons = Malawian born in Zim – brought tender fraud
    Sata = a Tanzanian indebted the country with loans from Europe & China
    Lungu = a Malawian Chawa (moslem) – has taken country back to one-party…

    • CONT’D
      Lungu = a Malawian Chawa (moslem) – has taken country back to one-party state dick-tatorship by suppressing media, opposition & 3rd term. I wont be surprised if we have a CHONCHOLEE as president in the next 10years.

      Donald Trump is right on some issues. We need to guard our borders jealously.

  7. Now to comrade Katondo Boys (EM) as much as we belong to the same camp please hear me out.. so this means please make a U-Turn on bringing in those boer farmers you wanted. I don’t think we are ready to have our land snatched from under our own feet- the state has already made mention they will engage the Zambia Army and Zambia National Service to develop state farms, so don’t encourage those boers to come or we’re might just have a conflict of interest with them! Secondly brilliant move by Kapyongo- the mines and agric sector are the biggest culprits in bringing in expatriates at the expense of skilled Zambian staff!

  8. There are no jobs in Zambia under the useless pf plus who is crazy enough to move to Zambia under the current leadership..the only ones coming here are somali and crooked Nigerians

  9. Dear Hon Minister.MR Kapyongo, I would like to bring this urgent issue to your office. Many Indian .Pakistani and Bangladeshi boys have infested Zambia in the past 5 years or so. This immigrants come to Zambia on a 90 day visas and before the end of their visa expiry date these same nationals of these 3 countries they obtain Zambian passports , there is a big racket going on at the passport office where some local Indians have connived with the Immigration officials at a large scale, This few Indian guys charges between 12 to 15000 USD per passport and they share out the money with their contacts with in the passport office. This guys are highly organised mafias They use fictitious names of innocent Zambians of origional Indians who are born and bread in Zambia, . The whole of…

    • @MALIKOPO…These are serious allegations. If you have concrete evidence to support this, you need to write directly to the Ministry of Home Affairs, and present the evidence that you have. That way they’ll take you seriously. If after you write them… no one follows it up, bring it to the general public. For sure, no patriotic Zambian would tolerate what these alleged crooks are doing — that is if it’s true.

    • He is right. How do you think you have thousands of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis with zambian papers but can’t speak a word of any zambian language????

      They have taken over.

  10. ‘Mr. Kampyongo said priority would be given to Zambians who had lost their citizenship by virtue of acquiring citizenship of other countries through various ways such as marriage or birth.’ How are they going to give back citizenship to those zambians who are citizens of other countries? Do you have to come back to zambia and be resident for 10 years? This is a mess! Or shall we assume that no one lost the zambian citizenship after taking citizenship of another country.

  11. Shoprite is South African ,the mines are run by Swiss and Chinese ,Kenol petrol stations are Kenyan,Emirates & Ethiopian Airlines own our airpace,our infrastructure is Chinese built and we owe a gazillion in foreign debt.

    Now tell me why expats won’t flood into Zambia seeing that we daft Zambians don’t seriously run anything?

  12. If this is done and maintained, i tell you PF would have done the Zambians on the street a great service. Most of our men coming from universities, colleges and other skills training institutes are offloaded onto the streets while foreigners get our jobs. Look at the mines all are foreigners why. even jobs like drivers, mechanics, welders are all expats how fair is this.

  13. This I have been talking about for a long time. Go to KCM you will find people working as boiler makers,fitters, electricians and drivers for AMSL on work permits! Smelter and TLP have people learning from us on the pretext of training zambians! Shi***t! Indians leaving KCM using same documents joining FQM and Mopani sure? Go to DRC DMG immigration cannot allow this lunacy they are present at all mines with offices. PF is just working up from slumber now

  14. For the first time I have head something sensible coming out of this imbecile’s mount. This practice is rife in the mining Industry were you have crane operators and mechanics as experts. Corruption has largely contributed to this and this is because your vision less leader does not want to tackle corruption in government Institutions. The rot starts at the head, if your leader becomes serious with the issue of corruption and begins to fire and prosecute those involved now, the scourge will be cubed. Empty rhetoric will not help, we want real action, start with KCM, FQM, lUMWANA mines etc. What criteria do these morons use when giving permits? Come back home and implement what you are yapping about.

  15. You don’t suspend and then start “reorganizing”; you just “reorganize”. Most likely what will happen there will be a vacuum created as a result of the suspension and then the whole move will be condemned and reversed. Please learn to do things properly even when you have good intentions.

  16. You’ll find a ZAMBIAN human resources officer in the forefront bribing the immigration and other officers in order to get work permit for expatriate. Go to Mine Safety Department in Kitwe you’ll find safety officers soliciting for bribes in return for exemption to allow ill qualified expatriates work on the mines. It’s not government per se that has failed but people put in positions to oversee our affairs.

  17. Look at the number of Chinese doing unskilled jobs in Zambia. The work permits are guaranteed as part of the contracts signed between government and Chinese companies. Are you going to stop signing such contracts and begin contracting Zambian owned firms (and I don’t mean those firms owned by politicians and relatives of government officials)?

  18. Even expired dog handler’s from South Africa as well as police officer’s have flooded the security industry as expatriates. Hope this works

  19. Good. Suspend issuance of work permits for the next 6 months whilst implementing this new system. If not, shorten the periods say to 3 months maximum and no extension.

  20. CAN YOU EXTEND THIS TO CBU TOO .THERE ARE TOO MANY FOREIGNERS IN FIERLDS THAT ZAMBIANS CAN MANAGE.WHY SHUD YOU HAVE FOREIGNERS TEACHING SUBJECTS LIKE REAL ESTATE WHEN WE HAVE A LOT OF ZAMBIANS ROAMING THE STREETS .LET THE UNIVERSITY MAINTAIN LECTURERS WHERE THERE IS NO SKILL AVAILABLE IN THE COUNTRY .

  21. us Zambians are lazy and very expensive, example kuma farm we give wrk to villagers, thy will pangono and start demanding for ration money and down payment, is that normal, e,g maybe the job is for 150, pamene apo ration money sure. mwebantu

  22. Just come from the farm. I had given a few tasks to some villagers and told them I will expect these to be completed when I come back after three days. I went there and found nothing had been only excuses. This is our weakness which is used to recruit foreigners.

  23. @Lie Detactor, I Swear by all Mighty God that what I said yesterday about the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals are obtaining Zambian passports by bribing the Immigration officials .What I said is not just an allegation but 101% truth .There are some local Indian Individuals who are Zambians are running this racket in the open day light. They charge 12000 to 15000 per passport. This local individuals are using the names of their fellow Zambian Indians friends in obtaining the Zambian passport for sale. For instance a MR A AND MR B are Zambian born Asians these corrupt guys would use their names to get a new passport issued issuing a photo of the person who is buying the new passport. What this guys at the Immigration head quarters will pull out the original file of that…

  24. Imagine, an expatriate to come In zambia to Inflate a tire , at KAL TIRE Lumwana mine. 5 people were brought In by site manager from Mozambique and Botswana after chasing 5 Zambians, he said he will make sure that he bring down Zambian s so that he keep room to his people from where he was as site manager. Please ba Labor office do something and protect this jobs for Zambians.

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