Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) President Joseph Chewe says it is embarrassing that Zambia has been classified as a poor country despite being rich in minerals that include gold, emerald,copper, manganese and cobalt.
Mr. Chewe has advised that Zambia should properly harness its abundant mineral resources to end poverty.
He said Zambia should learn from Middle East countries that have utilised oil to create national wealth.
“Look at how the Arabs have harnessed their wealth through oil.Where have we gone wrong as a country? We have copper and copper as we speak today is one of the minerals that is being used in this energy transition and we must leverage on these benefits and be counted that these minerals copper and manganese can end poverty in our country,” Mr. Chewe told Radio Icengelo News.
“We need to become like Arabs who have harnessed the wealth very well in terms of minerals. We call upon all Zambians that we need to show the next generation that these minerals God has given us must end poverty,” he said.
Mr. Chewe warned that foreigners have been abusing local minerals.
“It is very embarrassing that we can be classified as a poor nation in the midst of abundance, when those countries calling us poor have no minerals. This is very embarrassing so I think as a country we need to come out of these doldrums and change the way this country is classified by utilising our mineral resources and creating more jobs. The mining sector can absorb many unemployed graduates like it used to happen during ZCCM days,” he said.
Invest heavily in ZCCM and start putting our minerals into reserves to cushion economic shockwaves. When harvesters tell you it’s a bad idea, just know that you are doing something right.
Useless Unions….No voice . Fyonse ni yes yes!
There is Uraniun exposure at Lumwana….Yes Yes
KCM has polluted Kafue River from where miners drink their water….yes yes.
Kansanshi Mine have removed a Zambian General Manager and replaced him with white expartriate…yes yes.
Zambian Engineers on the mines getting far less that white Engineers…..yes yes.
Zambia is poor because of useless Mines Unions.
What solutions is it proposing? Strike first before going on podium to pass gas.
UNDERSTAND YOUR SHORT COMINGS FIRST
There will come a time in the future for this to be a reality BUT THAT IS NOT NOW
TAKE OVER A SMALL MINE AND SEE HOW THAT GOES FIRST
WE WILL ALL BE WATCHING
u are very right.
I love Bukina Fasos soldiers
The minerals could be in zambia, but they are for anyone of God’s children wherever they ar who has an idea of how to use them. u lived with emerald for yrs u didnt know hw to use it until the west african came. u lived with precious hard wood mukula for yrs u didnt know its use until the chinese came and used u to harvest it.
look at the clothes u are wearing frm top to bottom they are from resources coming from other countries but u ar benefiting. if u think zambia is for zambians only then u ar lost. look at how many races u see around you. from lebaneses to turkish to congolse to zimbabweans to british to indians they are all here. the earth and its wealth wherever it is belongs to all of Gods children wherever they ar.
The same bazungu who classifies us poor are the same ones now telling us that we have “first grade copper deposits”….and we jump up and down celebrating…..” Emancipate yourself from mental slavery non but ourselves can free our minds”….and we go and que at IMF and World Bank with a begging bowl asking for breadcrumbs
@ Mbimbi
You need Psychiatric evaluation ASAP….uzangena sanga pa last….
@Anonymous. im saying the reality mablaza. e.g theres more wealth in a 1km square radius small comunity of asian foreigners in emasdale than theres in the entire New kasama which is full of govt parasites.
Ba Chewe,
I’ve been communication with your union for 8 yeats now, to no avail. You guys make noise just to appease your membership. You don’t mean what you speak. All hot air bro!!!!
@Mbimbi
Can you go to India or China as a Zambian and start your Mining business….can you go to Saudi Arabia as a Zambian and start drilling their oil ???? ….they probably won’t even give you a Visa to start with
If talking without tangible solutions was a competition, Zambia would be a gold medalist.
I get irritated with such nonsense. So who do you think will improve your lot if you don’t act to rectify this anomaly.
Fact is, African culture is inimical to progress. This is why anywhere on this planet where black people are, there’s mostly lawlessness, ignorance and poverty even in the greatest land of opportunity America. black lives do not matter to black people, we are our own worst enemies. the only time black people are seen to work together is when they are dancing.
You are right. Look at the arabs. Of course one will say the Arabs have oil but so have Nigeria, Angola and others…. nobody knows what they do with the oil they mine. Countries that have kept their cultures, language and religion like India, China, the Arabs etc have made progress while here we continue aping foreign habits. Definitely you can’t beat the owners of a culture. It’s like chasing one’s shadow.
First understand your history and trauma before you compare yourself to others. What other race on this planet has been subject to what the black race is going through and has endured over the years? Our culture has been systematically destroyed and we have been reduced to following and begging. This is why we make so much noise when we see leaders who facilitate economic imperialism on their own people.
Your politicians are busy rushing to sell your mines to foreigners. When your children are born there will be nothing for them and they will just be laborers living in contaminated places!
Greediness, selfishness, ignorance and fear of the unknown has derailed our development those entrusted with authority have no room for fresh ideas and new skills even our so called economists operate on a try and error syndrome. its sad for sure how can a bunch of white men claim to discover minerals in your on land while u are busy chasing thieves who even wen u persecute them it wont add any value to the economy imingulu too much mu chalo chesu
How many times have I heard this broken record song? And now you must seek consent from chiefs to spend money on exploration? The chiefs ask bribes from someone gamblin/ risking his money to find minerals. Feudalism!!
It is embarrassing to be saying the same thing for almost 60 years now.
Zambia my dear is much better all we need is a patriotic leader like kk , mwanawasa or sata was but still the cabal who runs the stockmarkets of this world will bring you down one way or the other if you don’t do as they wish ..i have travelled to the DRC several times, the country with the worlds largest copper and cobalt reserves and i was shocked to see what i saw ; no proper infrastructure, no schools all they know is violence begging crying njala nipatiyeko kaloko.. man life is tough in this mineral wealth nation.. may God heal the minds of africans from whatever they’re suffering from.
This is very insightful about the DRC, without leadership there can not be progress. We need people with a strong vision and practical to see progress. There is no reason the country should have citizens in poverty with our natural resources and decent infrastructure.
This is not unique to Zambia, let’s look at a few African countries: DRC – this the country with the most natural resources in the world, yet its people live in abject poverty, Nigeria – it has oil resources on a per with the Arabs, yet a high percentage of its citizens live below the breadline, Zimbabwe – lots of minerals and natural resources, yet it is a basket case. The narrative with African countries in relation to poverty, inequality, and a lack of advancement continues unabated.
The mains for this is bad governance, greed, laziness and ignorance.
The most hurtful thing about Zambia in particular, is when you see the current President trying to eradicate the bad governance, greed, laziness and ignorance, he is vilified.
DRC is not a good yardstick to use unless you were born in 2000. From day one DRC has been at war accompanied by assassinations. It’s been in a continuous confused state. Zambia has known decency and peace with seemingly orderly systems until you know that people entrusted with the running of our affairs are not entirely honest.
No matter even if you find oil here it will never develope because politicians here are only interested in lining their pockets not developing the country.
We give multinational firms tax free incentives on the raw materials of 3 million tonnes per year from the belly of mother Zambia. When West gets those riches they show a liking for us by sending friendly grants. For example, we received US$270 million from the World Bank recently to help in hauling more free critical raw material through old and new transport corridors. We are poor because we are greedy, dumb and naive.
Colonialism has eaten us we think that coloniserss are still our masters so they should what ever they want from us and we give for free denying our selves
Very sad reality here, but then Zambia like most other mineral rich African countries has very little control over what they mine. We have external rich economies who turn our raw materials into finished products that are sold back to us at double the price of the raw material. Our Governments would do well to set up manufacturing plants instead of auctioning the mines.
Trade unions have no mandate to decide anything about our mineral resources , but it all goes back to selfish and corrupt politicians .
This chap is living a life of luxury off his members
so who is he to speak out ?
If we don’t have intelligent politicians and credible men in power all you can expect is non startesr that is situation we are in , these days they are busy asking us for solutions and yet they campained that they were the problem solvers