MINISTER of Labour and Social Security Fackson Shamenda says Government will not tolerate Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) management’s “arrogance” of defying President Sata’s directive that no miner be retrenched from the mine.
He has also said that it is intolerable and insulting of KCM to regard President Sata’s directive as “mere rhetoric”.
Mr Shamenda said this in the wake of KCM reportedly retrenching 76 workers just days after President Sata’s warning against KCM retrenching any miner.
Mr Shamenda says Government will not tolerate KCM’s arrogance.
The minister said he summoned KCM chief executive officer Kishore Kumar and Mineworkers Union of Zambia officials yesterday for a meeting as a follow up to the one held on Wednesday and that KCM management denied issuing retrenchment letters to its workers.
“We are not going to tolerate arrogance from any employers. They are not the only employers. They may claim to be the biggest, but they are operating in an environment where all mining companies are important…Nobody is going to blackmail us.
“The President has said if there is any investor who is becoming irresponsible, we revoke the licence, then give it to somebody who is going to be responsible,” he said.
Mr Shamenda said he was not aware of the lay-offs at KCM until he read about the matter in the press yesterday.
The minister said he had a meeting with Mr Kumar on Wednesday during which he conveyed President Sata’s message to the mining company but he was surprised that a day after the meeting, KCM retrenched some of its employees.
“The President directed that I should convey the message from him, which I did yesterday (Wednesday) evening at Parliament.
“Arising from these discussions and latest developments, I have asked him (Mr Kumar) again that I should have a meeting with him at 18:00 hours today (yesterday),” he said.
Mr Shamenda said he is also disappointed with the attitude and conduct of Mr Kumar who, after the meeting, described President Sata’s threat to revoke KCM’s licence as a “mere rhetoric”.
“I was very disappointed with his attitude after the meeting where he was calling the President’s threat as mere rhetoric. That was an insult which I am not going to tolerate,” he said.
On the retrenchment of 83 workers at Lumwana Mining Company Limited, Mr Shamenda said the mining firm has been systematic in the manner it lays off its workers.
He said Lumwana has been a responsible employer, adding that as the company expands its prospecting arrangements, more jobs will be created.
“The Lumwana job cuts have been very systematic. That was a prospecting project and it had a lifespan. With Lumwana, it is a very good institution, we are aware of what was happening,” Mr Shemanda said.
what is this you can not do this who pays for the investment get ? to pay for the loss or get tax or do we invest
What…..?
@tata
bushe finshi mule sabaila? munwine katankamanine uko?
You seem to have stress articulating yourself.
in your rush to be the first person to comment, you have tripped all over yourself. catch your breath and start again…..
Mmmmm….Tata!! What are talking about?
are you using google translate?
@tata, what have you said? I’m sure you’ve even lost yourself!
Lumwana is a good institution because it has sued the Govt claiming millions of dollars and I hope he (shamenda) is not a beneficiary of the proceeds. If the president had not said a thing on KCM he probably would have remained quiet just as he has remained mute on Lumwana suing the govt claiming millions of dollars. The post brought out this issue and no politician has said a thing coz the presido has not commented on it.
@ tata, bushe namunwa na nangu cilishani? I cnt get or make any sense from the none sense you have posted
sounds more like Indian accent
Latest news has it that Mr Kumar the CEO of KCM is on a plane to India . He has been deported by Sata.
@kopala, it’s KCM that sued not Lumwana
R U trying to imitate “clarity” of Hon. Shamenda statement?
Ruling by threats these old seeds in politics. I am tired of these old men and women who still think that power is in the hands yet the mind is the powerfull tool. Look how these old seeds have made us to think that strength in agriculture can be proven by working with the hoe, yet people with brains have used a tractor and it yield large quantity of grain. In Zambia we need minds and not strength of hands (Power). This old seed Sata & old minion minister saying nothing but mere rhetoric
Chalis, ‘Ba nsamya ba mumasitolo te mumigodi’, simply meaning Indians are meant for commerce and trade not mining. Remember how they messed up Luanshya Mine. The search for effective, fair, and productive experienced mining investors should have commenced immediately the President uttered the threat.
Ur cadre is busy defying ur presido. . . Why should KCM show any respect?
PF are a bunch of hooligans with no direction led by a dirty old f ool who is completely insane. Sata the lunatic!
Judging from your tone of voice and the bitterness in your statement, you the one who is a lunatic!
@ songwa Wanga, munee, even if the president is not leading the nation as we all hoped for, please mind your language. Offer constructive critics for the good of Zambia. your bitterness and insulting will never yield any good bt worse.
I know you have the brains to do right
Leave KCM alone to make its own business decisions including the number of employees in the company. Keep your stinking butts away from business! Stinking unkempt rascals!
On the retrenchment of 83 workers at Lumwana Mining Company Limited, Mr Shamenda said the mining firm has been systematic in the manner it lays off its workers.
From your statement above, Shamenda you are just politicking. Which number is greater 83 or 76? Since 84 is greater why are you not approaching the other with the same energy? Come up with a proper plan if you want your decisions to be respected. PF policy direction is a problem for you, hence the troubles you are finding yourselves.
Mr Shamenda is praising Lumwana as a good institution when it has sued the govt claiming billions of Dollars. Is he part of the beneficiaries?
83 employees retrenched from Lumwana mine are from exploration department, exploration as a limited life of not more than 4 years per licence hence the justification. 76 employees from KCM are from mining department and were on permanent cotracts.
Anglo American cooperation and other giant mining houses are more than ready to come and work with the Zambia government.
Seriously speaking, the govt has allowed itself to be blackmailed because time and again they have bowed down to unnecessary pressure coming from the mining companies. the citizens talked about low mining taxes but their concerns were trashed in preference to those advanced by the mining companies. Now they find themselves in a quandary. Deal with it, but we need our taxes!
This idea of “blackmail” is a farce. Sorry, but the global market doesn’t give two-effing-whatevers for the Zambian worker!
Do you really think a builder in Denmark, Mexico, or wherever who needs copper pipes and wire is going to say, “sure, let me pay 25% more for my materials to support Zambia’s jobs agenda.” This govt may be able to make us pay more to ZESCO because of not wanting to cut unnecessary jobs, but you can’t do that on the world market.
Honestly, clinging to words like “blackmail” is far from being serious! If anything, this mentality only fuels the kind of hostility and violence we are seeing more and more of in Zambia these days. Sure, keep job losses to a minimum but never at the expense of competitiveness and growth.
@Spuds, competition is good for any business. Blackmail comes in when the so-called competitor holds the duty bearer to ransom and that duty bearer bends down and says ‘yes, we will do it your way!’. The duty bearer is supposed to call the shorts but as it stands, it’s the other way round. We should have been firm from the start as to the type of investment we wanted and as to what we expected the investor to do. The problem is, we have allowed the ‘investor’ to direct the economy while we stand aside and look. The investor will go, but you and me shall remain wallowing in the mud, groaning that we should have done things differently. That is the point!
I’m not sure what you mean by calling the shots. If what you expect investors to do means keeping +1,500 workers on the books when it is no longer economical to do so we may as well change Zambia’s name to Cloud-coo-coo Land. As you say, the investor will go leaving us in a worse position than now. Put differently, it’s not a matter of govt “bowing down” before the investor, or the investor bowing to govt, but of everyone bowing to the market. How you do that, of course, is another matter and is why there needs to be mature dialogue to map the way forward for jobs, profits, growth, etc. Yes, companies and governments are driven by different objectives but these are not mutually exclusive so calls for cooperation…. not threats or incendiary words like blackmail.
@Spuds, the govt has a duty to secure good living standards for its people and it was in this vein that we privatized some institutions like ZCCM. It’s not like govt is completely unaware of what the mines get at the end of the day. Govt actually knows the exact tonnage mines produce and the cost of production. Govt is surely aware of the profits these mining giants make though they tend to declare fictitious losses. Govt therefore knows exactly what numbers the mines can sustain in human capital. The mines on the other hand want to maximize profits whatever it takes, which of course is the ultimate goal of every business but the duty bearer must ensure that the ordinary Zambian, who includes the Zambian worker is not overly exploited and deprived. Facts and figures are there to see.
pay back is da dish best served cold..at last gud bye vendata go where u belong..land of poverty & satanism..
Politics, labour matters, running capital and business costs, are not one and the same thing. Governments understand the implications of deliberately disadvantaging the investors, except Sata’s regime. Governments can only facilitate negotiations as a party in a social union between business, labour and itself. If business observes that it is unable to make profits due to huge labour costs, it can retrentch workers or it can request labour to negotiate wage flexibility through a collective bargaining agreement. Government cannot just impose directives and, directives do not inform us anything. Sata’s rigidity does not help labour. If business withdraws from its commitments due to Sata’s directives, then, credit rating agencies such as Standards & Poors, are going to down grade Zambia’s
KUMAR – CEO of KCM has been deported!!
That is brand 1964 for you. They don’t even seem to keep track of their contradictions. The Internet now keeps all utterances and it is a shame to watch these guys playing simpleton with matters of economy and politics! Wise up, Mr Minister…
Zambia the next sinking titanic.
Sinking? It sank on a fateful day in September 2011.
I get sick when i read comments here. I expect pipo to write well thought out comments on issues like this but you keep on beeing childish, attcking each other, joking aimlessly eyeeeeeee.!!!!
I completely agree and unfortunately its such a shame
We Africans really have a problem. Your government is trying to protect you against being exploited by foreign companies and all you can do is turn against them and hurl insults at them.
How can you move forward as a nation when you are so negative and filled with so much hate towards your own flesh and blood? Instead of uplifting and comforting your own, you are in bed with their opressors.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against foreign investors at all. I only feel that it is high time we put a message accross: we must not allow ourselves to be used and refused anymore. The new arrangement must be on the basis of a win-win situation.
Give us our mines back. We’ll turn them into dams for irrigation and develop underground railway network using Chirwa’s dream. This copper thing isn’t working and will never work and has never worked. We have alternatives to copper now as in all things. Not even coins are made out of pure copper these days but alloys of cheaper materials. No more Ngwee – it’s Nkwee!
KCM was not part of the scheme of false promises of MORE JOBS and more money in people’s pockets so leave them alone.
KCM would not lay off workers if it knew that by doing so it would negatively affect the company. If KCM has mechanised their operations what will the workers be doing?
KCM CEO deported?
Insider’s report is that KCM will continue to retrench people. They do not care about Sata. KCM is too small an investment for them and if Sata expropriate it, it will be a blessing in disguise for them. Expect a suit in London.
Sata’s threats will not cow down international investors. His actions might push Zambia to Zimbabwe’s route. Painful future awaits.
@ chale mind your generalization of the phrase “we Africans”. It speaks negatively about Africa in general. you haven’t head the whole of Africa speak, have you? just because some few people are expressing their opinions in a criticizing manner, you think all Africans are like that! what do you take this continent for. you cant change the world unless you change the way you think. the first thing, is to acknowledge and respect other people’s thoughts. be proud of your continent!
Miners hv an average of 2kids so if u get 1500 out of employment then u risk havin those kids either as thieves or prostitutes.
It is amazing to see how some government officials play double standards. Mr. Shamenda whatever you you are called, it is not a matter of ranting anyhow but a matter of business acumen that matters. Your govt. is planning to lay off 6000 employs from civil service and you have not said a single thing? Why should the private sector not prune workers when it is automating its operations? KCM does not want to enslave itself in the borrowing web like your government has done. Engage KCM as govt and stop ruling by threats it will not take you and your government anywhere. The fact is as Govt you are bankrupt so is KCM.
KCM lied about automating of processes. Also note that you must first complete automation then after stabilising you reduce labour. Now KCM just made a statement that they will automate and immediately they want to prune, that is trickery. All the Indians wanted was to remain only with the most profitable parts of KCM and shutdown the rest. please research before commenting, the PF has full Knowledge of what is going on. PF is in constant contact with KCM zambian managers and the unions.
@chimbwi, u sound like jst another hurt opposition cadre, we shud be serious about these matters. hence the name>
@1. tata,
LOL, In the olden days you would have been given a nickname that relates to what you have just said but failed to carry logic. That name would be uku sata or simply ‘Sata’. The other one would be Ukusabaila or simply Sabaila. Such names stick like super glue to a person. In no time they become the main name. If you are in doubt, ask the President.
By coincidence, Mr Kumar of KCM is not far off when he calls it it ‘rhetoric’. The PF Govt, and indeed the President is not quoting which labour law KCM have abrogated, they have not categorically pointed out any anomaly that they can legally use to challenge KCM. So, it is indeed rhetoric. And fellow Zambians suffer because of this kind of incompetence by the Govt. In time, we will all pay the price for this incompetence.
KONKOLA Copper Mines (KCM) Chief Executive Officer Kishore Kumar has reportedly been deported to his native country India this morning.
KCM defied President Michael Sata directives for the mining firm not to lay off a single worker from the bankrupt Zambia’s mining giant.
KCM laid-off 76 workers and more are still going as the mining firm is totally bankrupt and barely surviving on borrowed money.
Dialogue has been choked following the deportation of Mr Kumar this morning who wanted to prove bigger than the President.
Mr Kumar becomes second CEO at this mining under Vadanta to be deported by the Zambian Head of State.
Levy deported KCM’s Chief Executive Officer, C. V. Krishnan within 48 hours after he proved arrogant just like Kumar.
It is now increasingly becoming…
Kumar is a man, the cobra has been silenced.
comments just like africans
.nothing is well thought out here.
be careful going into partnerships with indians. it is calling for disaster.
tbey have terminated all contracts with local contractors. they r mean. they evade tax, they corrupt, now they are retrenching.
revoke their license
Ba mwenye sure muma mines,awe tulebako serious
Zambians you must stand up for what belongs to you , be united and speak one voice against those who want to steal from you, why oppose yourselves on matters like this, if the mines are not run well just close them and wait for some one you will approve to work better, copper is our heritage it is time to wake up , Zambia remains poor but those who get copper products are rich , what is wrong with our brains in zambia
fackson shamenda you deport kumar will sata go for medicals
Pa Fikala olo Pa fipondo. them freeze employing in GRZ, others want to cut costs on personal emoluments by down sizing
Indian firm develops Zambian copper mine
PTI Jun 25, 2006, 05.40pm IST
LUSAKA: Indian mining firm Vedanta Resources today unveiled a slew of projects to enable Zambia’s largest mine to nearly treble copper production to six million tonnes a year, an official said.The projects will allow the Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), in which Vedanta holds a 51 percent stake, to raise output from 2.4 million tonnes to six million tonnes thus extending its lifespan to 2035, KCM chairman Navin Agarwal said.”The total investment in these projects is 750 million dollars. This is the single largest investment in Zambia to date,” Agarwal said.He said KCM had awarded contracts to several international firms to develop the untapped Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP), as well as construct a new smelter and…
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