President Edgar Lungu has assured the former workers of Mansa batteries in Mansa district in Luapula province that government will settle all the dues owed to them.
The 174 workers lost their employment after the company was privatized during the 1994 privatization exercise and have since then not being given their terminal benefits.
President Lungu stressed that time has come for the matter to be concluded as it had dragged for a long time thereby causing suffering among the surviving former workers and their families.
He said to this effect he will engage the Minister of Finance and the Attorney General to secure all the required K5 billion and be paid to all the workers.
” I think we need to cut this long story short and close this matter once and for all, so when I go to Lusaka I will engage the Minister of Finance and the Attorney General to find the money and pay all the former workers of the Mansa batteries,” he noted.
The Head of State was speaking in Mansa today, when he met the former Mansa batteries workers at the factory.
President Lungu also directed that the new owners of the structures Astro holdings should their position known with regards to the plans they have for the infrastructure, adding that failure to do government will have no option but to repossess the building and turn it into a viable structures that can benefit the local people.
“The new owners. Astro holdings, need to give a new life to the structures here, which will be good for the well-being of the people around but if they are not going to give us a satisfactory response we will have no option but reposes it,” noted.
President Lungu pointed out that the forefathers had a vision of setting up such kind of investments in almost all parts of the country to improve the welfare of the people adding that this is why government has started resuscitating some of the companies that had gone down.
He cited Kawambwa tea and Munushi bananas in Luapula Province as some of the companies that have been revamped.
“It is a shame that something good that was put by our forefathers had to end like this” he added.
And Luapula Province Minister Nixon Chilangwa said it was his desire to see the issue of former workers at Mansa batteries settled by paying them they money.
Mr.Chilangwa said the issue had dragged for long time, until last year when he advised workers to settle the matter outside the court and a consent judgment was signed.
“This issue had dragged for a long time and we had conflicting details coming through, the former workers were tired hence sought government’s intervention but I advised them that government can’t intervene in matter that was active in the courts of law that is how the case was withdrawn to be settled outside court and consent judgment was signed,” he explained.
Early the representative of the former workers Brighton Musukwa disclosed that out of the 174 former workers, 81 have died most of them because of depression.
Mr.Musukwa noted that the lives of the former workers has for the past 26 years being on a halt as many of them cannot afford to fend for themselves and their families due to economic hardships.
He noted from the time the company was privatized the new owner just bought the assets and didn’t not take any liabilities, adding that since then the company has continued to exchange hands in terms of ownership.
“We were 174 but now we have just remained 93 our colleagues 81 of them have all died and the cause of death is depression, from 1994 we have lived in misery our families are suffering we can’t afford even to take our children to school, life has been unbearable so just want our dear President to help us by giving us our money,” he said.
He also appealed to President Lungu to consider turning the factory in to a village industry that will allow the setting up of small industries.
Its painful how those people around failed to convince the president the factory can be redeemed. How can failure before in the management stand in the prospects of that factory today with swirling demand for energy high everyday?? Factories are the best equalizer for our people today
Luba Quombe exactly! factories drive economies! we still have demand for batteries in this countries. IDC must look at the viability of Mansa batteries and revive it.
John Mwanza i hope it will be done.
Johnson Banda its awfully painful watch them talk lazy. Whats wrong with our people. I almost broke my phone for failing to optimize the opporrunity
Elections are good basa,all retirees will be paid before August 2021,if only we could have elections every year..nicali boobu nicali cibotu ????
And yet the one who took advantage of privatization at the expense of zambians, is no where to be seen doing anything to help them. For him he is only after his self interest of becoming president so that he can even sell more companies. Zambians are not f00lish to vote him in. Amen
Let IDC Your Excellency , revive Manda battery
Mphande Christopher True this industry can be revived.
It just takes a strong political will power,the rest is self actualisation.
Nick Ndawa thus the only way to strengthen our economy than depending on imports from China .
Nick Ndawa its very correct , look at kawambwa tea .
Nick Ndawa and Mununshu banna scheme has also been revised
Glad he he has just known this today….since 2015..
Brilliant Move
He is telling lies…….where will he get the money from ???
Don’t worry , in 2021 he will be back telling you how he will engage the finance ministry …..
Open the thing, not bribes.
Good luck to all those former workers. please keep us updated over the next two years. Because once they know they have secured your vote, they will forget about you..
Beans
He says a lot of things that are never fulfilled. The ex miners were promised land, youth empowerment, retirees benefits, etc.
174 workers sharing 5 billion. Maybe it’s old currency. My mathematics does not agree with that figure no matter how many batteries they were making. Only a politician gets 6 million as terminal dues.
Did he just say 5billion? That’s 28million per worker or $1.4m. Next up is ubz, you just opened a crater of worms.
I will only believe once they are paid as it stands ni beans (solwezi).
balemibepa nga lyonse li ninshi
2021 is near so apa ama promises yalafula. So this is when he has known that the retirees haven’t been given their dues?kuti wapapa
This joker is an irritant
No Mr president that is wrong, why paying them…are they the only people that suffered during Privatisation process, if you do that then pay everybody….what happened to the commission of enquiry….start investigating Kaili….you have changed your mind..kkkkkkk
This is sad. Why not have a system that just works.
Mulungushi textile is still on promisery note kkkkk
“Been” not “being”
Are you going to pay those who have died? Even those that you will pay, their loss as a result of the delay has significantly increased. You will have to double the payment and adjust for inflation accordingly. You also have to pay everyone else that lost from the privatization exercise.
This man has made pronouncements that he knows are not true just for political gains. Where will government find that money?
same old story
WHAT DO YOU SMOKE, AFTER MANSA BATTERIES WHO SRE YOU GOING TO CHEAT NEXT. SHAMEFUL CREATURE, GO AND TRY YOUR NONSENSE IN NIGERIA.
??????????????????????????????… But ba Lungu awe mwandi sometimes his Political statements are like child’s play…. Like really?… And those same people will even believe him. From 2011 todate that’s when he’s realised that he needs to pay the retirees of Mwansa batteries?
Too much promises ….. Guys ni beans…. Let him first pay the retires
#2021vibes
so we have people that have not yet gotten their dues from as far as 1994…This is so sad and unacceptable
Trying to score cheap political points .We are where we are now because of mansions in Swaziland and Lusaka which have been built from of tax payer cash .
Kaiser lies have legs , they are like pregnancy that a woman can not hide.
People have heard repeatedly lies from my mbuya Lungu each time , its close to elections.
Chiluba who used to be the master of manipulations was caught in his manipulations and left office as sad and only man who had magnitude of followers at his will. People like you Kaiser will run away from Lungu as your relationship with lungu is for convenience, in happiness and not in difficulties times.
The political projectory for lungu appears similarly to that of chiluba but the sad thing about lungu , he has burnt alot of bridges to use back when the Journey as an ordinary citizen becomes troublesome and difficult to overcome. He will be the most lonely and hatred ex preaident zambia has ever produced to…
Mr. President it is not only former Mansa Battery company workers which need to be paid terminal benefits, what about other companies whose workers did not receive terminal benefits? Mr. President should be careful what he says and does, it may bring more trouble than he thinks. Where is this money coming from to pay terminal benefits if Zambia is skipping 6 months before paying its creditors?
This president is a clown.
They can not even revive Zambia Airways. Not that it is necessary, but this man has invested so much tax payers money in trying to revive this dead project. Only God where the money has ended up.
And what of the 500 million USD Zesco loan? Where did the money go?
This man has no shame. He has known about these retirees since 1994. But the way he acts shocked, you would think he has just landed from Mars today.
They will pay? You will hear these very same messages when election date comes up
They will pay? You will hear these very same messages when election date comes up next year
does anyone here use dry cell? the world has moved to lithium ion batteries so revive to do what,? make small batteries for remote controls ?
Laugh it off he is joking am sure.
Can’t people analyze. This is ECL’s continued pathetic maneuver to allude to privatization and claim ‘failure’ linked to HH. For those enlightened, this is another pathetic example of ECL’s populist shameless diatribes whenever elections are around the corner and he feels threatened. Haven’t they recently been organizing and bribing people to ‘protest’ about the consequences of privatization – a policy of the MMD regime?
Harold Muna
Yes , lungu could be alluding to privertisation associated with HH….
But promising to pay those ex workers just shows how low he regards the Zambian voter…..knowing just lies will sway them.
Where is the money going to come from? Mulungushi textile has been waiting for donkey years to bring it to life but still not a ngwee has been injected towards refurbishment. Economy is in ICU n will be there for a good time.
I hope the people of Mansa will not be hoodwinked by this lying Government! Just check the priorities..
You buy yourself a presidential jet (that you don’t deserve) that benefits only you and you can claim on the 11th hour that you will pay the benefits to people who where not paid in 1994. You are insulting peoples intelligence Mr Accidental president. Where is money going to come from? You have borrowed so much that more borrowing will be more expensive for this unbelievably incompetent government. You have to be out of your mind to even contemplate voting for this corrupt mob!
Munshebwa aile namafi kubuko!
Mansa and the whole Luapula Province is full of manganese which the Chinese are digging up and exporting to their country to make batteries and sell you back the same batteries. “…Village industries…”- Ba spokesperson couldn’t you have mentioned something more viable such as reviving the same battery manufacturing plant? Ifintu nomba ni electrical vehicles. So, that factory could be modernised to manfacture solar panels and car and gadgets batteries in line with the electric vehicles. It could also be extended to manufacture other electric vehicles spares.
Where is Manda batteries?
this man how is his thinkng?making fake promises when the country is in serious debts.he just wants to secure votes. bankamilaba.u even put your hopes. wenye wenkawenka
These former workers missed an opportunity to convince the President to take over the factory but just want a K35,000 each in terminal benefits. The president must take over factory. Its a white elephant on prime land.
The people of Mansa must know that when it is time for campaign, Corrupt Man can say anything in order to have a vote. Let them ask Kabwe resident about Mulungushi promises
the same mouths talking about privatisation inquiry, now talking about matter was in court, will be decided outside court, then govt will pay the terminal benefits.
lies have short legs.
Mr. President, plse also help former Kabwe’s GENERAL PHARMACEUTICALS LTD (GPL) workers, who unlike Mansa Batteries workers, didn’t even get an opportunity to purchase the 41 GPL staff houses, which the privatisation “investor” – who had MMD political connections-immediately sold back to GRZ (Defence Ministry)and pocketed all the money, then abandoned the factory and workers to a liquidation process which resulted in them getting only 3 months liquidation pay for their 20 years service. The major secured creditor- DBZ- got all the receipts from the liquidator’ s asset disposal. Our benefits’ 1995 Lsk High Court case was only concluded in a May 2020’s assessment judgement in our favour. But the hitch now is who to pay us. Plse help us also as you are about to do for Mansa Batteries…
The privatisation exercise’s intentions were noble, but man being selfish by nature, led to the process dispatching thousands of our fellow citizens to their death due to financial ruin arising from loss of thousands of jobs and their accrued benefits. A sad privatisation episode at former Kabwe’s GENERAL PHARMACEUTICALS LTD (GPL), where ZPA sound the factory & 41 staff houses for only K250,000 (rebased). The local “investor” quickly evicted all us workers from the houses and sold them back to the government at a huge profit which he pocketed and then abandoned the factory and workers- who lost their 20 years benefits. The workers’ complaints to ZPA’s Social Impact Department fell on deaf ears. The workers’ 1995 High Court case took more than 20years in the Lusaka court, and only…