Maamba Collieries Ltd (MCL) retrenchees, who have not been paid their money for the past eleven years, today stormed the house of the District Commissioner (DC) Mungoni Simulilika to present their grievances on the government’s delay in paying them their money.
The former workers, who complained that many of their friends have died of depression, warned that they would demonstrate if government fails to pay them their money.
Speaking on behalf of the retrenchees, Alick Siankuku said their representatives have been in Lusaka for the past four months to have their matter addressed but government has continued delaying in paying them.[quote]
Mr Siankuku said retrenches have demanded to be put back on MCL payroll according to the high court judgment that they obtained so that their misery could be reduced.
He said according to the judgment, all the retrenches were supposed to be put back on the payroll until government paid them their money but it was not honoured resulting in the accumulation of wages for the past eleven years.
He said the retrenches would not want to disappoint the President through resorting to riots but if government fails to honour its promise they would be forced to demonstrate.
Bornface Nchimba said they were failing to take their children to school because they have no source of income from the time they were retrenched.
Mr Nchimba disclosed that there was starvation among the retrenched workers and they were desperate because there was no peace in their homes.
Malala Muchimba, who is a widow, said all the retrenched workers were bitter about the non-payment of their money.
She said President Ruphiah Banda promised to pay them their money in two weeks last year in October but nothing has been done since.
She alleged that the ministries of Justice and Finance and National Planning were delaying the whole process of paying them.
Ms Muchimba warned that their patience should not be taken for granted.
And the Sinazongwe DC, Mr Simulilika, said he would take up their grievances to the relevant authorities so that the matter would be addressed.
Mr Simulilika said the matter was already above his office and everything possible was being done to ensure that it received the highest attention.
He noted that government was being careful in addressing their complaints so that no mistake was made since the matter was ruled in court.
Pay them imwe ala!!
Inga bena, bali kwisa all this time? 11 years?? Mmmmm…Strange mwe.
Meanwhile Hikaumba claims that not all Chinese investors are bad. Here is more proof of how authentically bad the Chinese are. Please pay them their hard-earned dues!
Imwe sure!!!!!
Let them be in the Moments of Much-pain and Disaster (MMD) then be carders ,they will get rich soon
This is very unfair chaps!!why not pay people their money?????if you have failed to do so,pliz leave and let serious infestors cum ova and suck our wealth and pay them!!!!!
Hikaumba has not be aware of this all situation. Maamba is even in Southern where Chikaumba comes from. He is a big NUT this id]ot. He was chosen to represent workers and he has chosen to be a PRO for the Chinese Embassy. What a mockery. He is a pumbafu
This is sheer infringement of workers’ rights! Please give them their money, nishani kanshi??
dont worry my cousins Tongas. My uncle will employ you when he buys Maamba. Amaamba oye. oye!
#2, Ba Moze. these people are serious. the fact that they have not been paid 11 yrs down the line does not mean that they are not serious just that the wheels of Govt turn very slow, especially if the Govt does not have any immidate interest in the matter. we have uncaring selfish individual in high offices who would rather buy expensive vehicles, build masions, donate to neighbours than attend to matters that really matter to their people. the Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Labour and the trade unions have to wake up and ensure that workers’ rights are protected. these people contributed to the well being of this country and now that they are not in employment, should they be treated like rejects? may the powers that be PLEASE hear our people’s cries.
Thats a human rights violation. Its sad how insensitive our govt is to the peoples plight. Politicians like RB who make promises they can not fulfill just add insult to injury. However, this is made worse by our own docility. Zambians are very docile people. Its not uncommon to hear of people going for months even years without pay and just sit and complain. sometimes you have to take matters in your own hands!!
So these chaps voted for RB thinking that when he comes into power he will give them their money, what a waste of votes.
But 11 years is too much, what have they been doing all these 11 yrs?
Stop touring the world and pay the people idoits
Geeeee!!!! they will be ‘billionaires’ after payout…….
This is simply a case of the government feeling no pressure or obligation to pay these people what they have rightfully earned. How can a President who claims to have a HEART for the people make false promises to pay them in two weeks and then fail to honor that promise? Mr Banda instead opts to go galavanting across the world using money that could be paid to these people. This is sickening.
yeah # 14 ,they will b “rich” after payout.someone who was taking home K350pin will get K46.2million ! Not bad ,but these villagers will go 2 Lusaka to “shop” used corollas+used canters…..pity!
ATTENTION Lusaka Times :
here is a suggestion.Could you come up with a space on your site for “Lost but Found” where we could type in names of old friends,schoolmates…etc from old schools or towns then whoever knows their whereabouts could also submit the adress details…..it will really be great meeting old old friends.Like they do on “graduates.com” .in short lets have a zambian version.Thank you.
#17 please refer to facebook. There are a lot of Zambians there.
I know some former staff ; they looked desperate the time I left.Plse pay them now that the mine is functional!
Come on Mr. Wally. Know your Zambia. Maamba mine has never been run by the Chinese. The suffering miners were ZCCM employees. The Chinese are at another mine at Nkandabwe, 30km away.
And Ba FTJ in your arrogance or ingonrance you call people you have never met villages and demean that far. Try to show respect to people thats how your parents brought you up. Pres. banda made it his campaign to pay these dues and he is on holiday every other week, what ever tires him no one knows.I speak from experience the situation is bad, some people have died waiting for these monies, kids have dropped out of school, widows are in desperate situations.My heart bleeds everytime I visit Maamba, in its hey days, we grew up playing Tennis, Squash, etc for free, best golf club in southern province, the guest houses were beautiful with pools, nowadays its bad.I’m one of the people waiting for the money, though I have moved on in life, but my heart is with people trapped in this dire…