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Zambia Congress of Trade Unions President ZCTU Leonard Hikaumba has called on government to expedite the review of the current labour laws so as to encompass the emerging labour issues in the new legislation.
Speaking at the Media Strategy workshop Mr Hikaumba observed that the current labour laws have a lot of loopholes which has led to workers being exploited by their employers hence the need to have the current laws reviewed without delay.
He said the current labour laws disadvantage workers as the loopholes in them make it easy circumvent them by investors who make hefty profits which they do not share with their workers.
“Some employers have taken advantage of certain loopholes in the current labour laws and have exploited workers to ensure they maximize on their profits, which do not even want to share with the worker,” said Mr Hikaumba said.
And Mr Hikaumba called for strengthened relations between the media and labour unions saying:”the work of the two institutions is complementary and we are convinced that the media can help in developing trade unions and their daily struggle of labour for better working conditions and higher working wages,”
And speaking in a speech read on his behalf by Labour Commissioner Cecilia Kamanga, Labour Deputy Minister Rayford Mbulu emphasized the pivotal and constructive role that the media plays towards the development of any society.
He called on trade unions to ensure that they take advantage of the many forms of media in educating their members.
“We are all aware that the media plays a very pivotal role in our society today. The Media helps increase awareness levels of society and through information dissemination as well as help change attitudes towards certain issues,” said the Deputy Minister.
The 1 day workshop is meant to build and consolidate the relationship between trade unions and the media.
Police in Chilanga are investigating 18 cases in which a group of conmen is targeting business people, mostly those coming from outside Lusaka and robbing them out of huge sums of money and other valuables by offering them goods for sale.
The conmen ask the businessmen to accompany them to the purported warehouse where the goods are being kept. Before reaching the warehouse, the conmen start eating biscuits and offer some to the businessmen. After eating, the businessmen become unconscious and it is at this point that they are robbed out of their valuables and damped somewhere between Chilanga and Kafue.
The victims who are usually discovered by passersby in unconscious state are then rushed to the hospital by the police where they receive treatment. No death has so far been recorded.
We would like to warn members of the public that this is another group of conmen with a different mode of operation. Two weeks ago, two people were arrested in Lusaka for swindling many people on the Copperbelt and Lusaka out of huge sums of money by advertising in the newspapers that they are selling property such as land, houses and cars when in fact not. They appeared in court early this week.
We are however, still looking for their accomplices namely Given Simpose of Mushili in Ndola, Mulenga Mukuka of Kabwata as well as the groups master mind Godfrey Mulenga popularly known as Ba Goddie of Lusaka who drives a beige Toyota Corolla and owns two homes in Emmasdale and Matero East.
Members of the public with information leading to the apprehension of these suspects to report to the nearest police station.
FILE: Students from the Copperbelt University protesting against management
The Copperbelt University Students Union has asked government to increase the Meal, project and accommodation allowances before the school reopens on April 21st, 2014.
COBUSU Vice president Gerald Chiluba said that the cost of living in the country has increased and students are failing to sustain themselves with the current allowances.
Chiluba who revealed that the students are calling today as black Friday says they are protesting for the student’s welfare.
He said the government has not increased allowances since 2011 despite the removal of subsidies which has subsequently increased the cost of food staffs.
He said the government should reverse the allowances before the re-opening of the institution later in the month.
And COBUSU Academics and Welfare secretary Mumba Michelo said the students are mourning the dying of the Zambian economy.
Michelo said the inflation rate has continued to increase since October last year and wonders why the government does not want to increase the allowances for students.
Former Communication and Transport Minister, William Harrington has welcomed the decision by former Tourism Minister Sylvia Masebo to sue him.
Ms. Masebo has sued Mr. Harrington for allegedly bringing her reputation into ridicule and disrepute after the tribunal cleared her of allegations of obtaining pecuniary advantage relating to the operations of the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) when she served as Minister of Tourism.
But Mr. Harrington has told Qfm News in a telephone interview that he thinks Ms. Masebo may not have seriously thought through her decision to sue him.
Mr. Harrington however says he cannot wait to receive Ms. Masebo’s Court summons.
He notes that once his lawyers have studied the documents, he will raise preliminary issues with regards Ms Masebo’s law suit.
Mr. Harrington could not however state what preliminary issues his lawyers intend to raise pertaining to Ms. Masebo’s legal claims.
MMD President Dr Nevers Mumba has reiterated his call for those opposed to his leadership to leave the former ruling party.
Dr Mumba stated that only a handful of people are agitating for his removal from the MMD, adding that they should honorably leave the party if they are aggrieved.
He was speaking on Radio Liseli in Mongu when he featured on a special programme during his tour of the Western Province.
On the same programme, Dr Mumba predicated that Zambia will suffer a major food security crisis due to the poor agricultural policies of the PF.
He said many Zambians are threatened with hunger due to the failure by the PF to subsidize agricultural production and marketing.
Dr Mumba charged that the country’s agricultural sector has collapsed, adding that most Zambians are today finding it difficult to make ends meet.
Part of the panelists at the EIZ public discussion
The Engineering Institution of Zambia has proposed a number of measures to addressing road traffic congestion in Zambia.
Engineers who gathered at a public discussion in Lusaka Thursday evening on road traffic congestion said there is an urgent need to address the situation.
The panelists drawn from the Engineering Institution of Zambia, Lusaka City Council, Roads Development Agency, National Road Fund Agency and the Ministry of Transport and Communications all agreed that Lusaka needs a new transport management system.
Engineering Institution of Zambia Vice President George Sitali said there is need to make bold statements that all the institutions mandated to manage the road system in Lusaka have failed the city.
“We need to be bold here and make bold statements. The first statement is that our city was badly planned. The way the roads are designed in this city does not match up with the way traffic is flowing, so you need to tie traffic flow and your road network which has affected our own intervention on our roads, Just imagine me wearing this shirt every day for the rest of this year, what is going to happen to my shirt? There will be wear and tear on the shirt,” Mr Sitali said.
Lusaka City Council Director of Engineering Gilbert Nsendama stated that the traffic situation is further worsened by the disorganized public transport service.
He called for the regulation of mini buses under the Markets and Bus Stations Act in order to bring sanity to public transport.
Mr Nsendama however observed that there is a lot of work going on to decongest Lusaka city roads.
“Works have begun on the L400 and those that have been on Chilimbulu and Burma roads may have seen that the contractor has mobilised and works have started. The L400 will not be the ultimate solution to congestion in Lusaka.
What we should be looking at is an integrated approach and we got that integrated approach through JICA who funded the development of the Integrated Development Plan for Lusaka up to 2030,” Mr Nsendama said.
“A project from that JICA plan has since commenced and this is the inner ring roads,”he said.
He noted that the traffic congestion in Lusaka has been compounded by the fact that most of the roads are radial and end now where.
“We need inner ring roads and integration of other modes of transport, park and ride areas. We also need to think about the social aspects of the solution, the mindset of Lusaka residents has to change because in our society, everybody wants to own a car because it is a sign of wealth.”
Mr Nsendama said Lusaka also needs a mass rapid transport system which will also encompass non-motorized traffic and walk ways.
And Nelson Nyangu Director of Transport at the Ministry of Transport and Communications said the Ministry has a robust plan to modernize Lusaka transport system.
“We are doing L400 and we are creating a four lane along Burma and Chilimbulu roads, we have just completed all the roads under Formula 1 and we are discussing with potential investors to revive Njanji Commuter, as a mass urban transit rail. We wait to make Njanji a ring rail with two tracks which will fly over Lusaka, we are also looking at introducing double decker buses which will move around the ring rail.”
Meanwhile, Road Development Agency Director Mumba Kanyuka noted that Lusaka was designed for very few people.
“Our planning and our forward thinking may have gone out of the window when we were designing the city. As RDA, we do endeavor in designing city roads where we have space and can provide for walk ways and cycle tracks, we provide for them. Some areas you can even find space for drains because they have been built over.”
Vice President Guy Scott has proved wrong all white racists who in their sick effort to preserve White dominance claim that Africans have the lowest IQ (Intelligence Quotient). Over the years Scott has showed us that intelligence is adaptable by environmental input; that environment is elemental in the development of a given attribute. He has proved that how and where people live, their up-bring, their economic status, and culture have a substantial impact on the intellectual skills of a person.
Having laid the premise let me expound. Back in September 2011, what evoked great interest for Zambia in the West was not so much the headline “Victoria Station sweeper becomes president of Zambia,” but the appointment of Guy Scott as Africa’s second white deputy president after South Africa’s Frederick Willem de Klerk. The Guardian’s David Smith wrote of Scott: “He is outspoken, has the popular touch and just became the second most powerful man in Zambia. He also possesses something now rarely seen at the top of African politics: white skin.”
The media also stressed that in addition to the color of his skin Scott was an Oxfordian trained scientist: “he graduated in economics from Cambridge, researched robotics at Oxford, and wrote a PhD in cognitive science before returning to Zambia at the dawn of multi-party politics in 1990.” It was clear the ulterior motive of some of the writers was to draw a distinction between the white vice president and the black president—scientist and sweeper; day and night; white and black; European and African; all in their aversive racist effort to activate stereotypes of Whites as intelligent and Blacks as dull and lazy.
For those not familiar with the term “aversive racism,” it is a type of subtle bias practiced even by well-intentioned white journalists and individuals in order to perpetuate negative feelings about Africans. It can be said that 99.9% of whites possess non-conscious aversive racism which can be dictated in their actions, comments and body language. I am including Scott in this category. They believe in the stuff peddled by eugenicist and unrepentant racist Richard Lynn and other pseudo scientists who continue to insist that the IQ of whites is higher than that of Africans no matter the level of education.
The Lynn garbage has been fed into our minds as well. It has created in us a lack of self-worth, and a feeling of not measuring to White standards. As a result we tend to subconsciously over-compensate Whites when we are in their presence. Scott, having been born in Zambia knows how we cherish him because he “possesses white skin.” We, I mean most of us believe that he is more intelligent than we are. We believe that his engagement in various forms of reasoning is rapid, and he tackles problems by taking thought.
This goes for every white person. Some of us think white people are super smart; that that they are blessed with more intellectual gifts than us; that they have more natural innate intelligence; that they possess survival-orientated knowledge that allows them to achieve goals they personally desire. Whites know this and in order to sustain our impression of them, it is only natural that they retain an element of aversive racism.
In the case of Scott, it would not be far-fetched to claim that he is the reason some people are in the PF party. Wherever he goes, villagers and a good number of town dwellers flock to him and believe every word he says. Because they have been convinced a White has more wisdom and sight, the simply conclude “the muzungu has spoken.” In actual fact, it is this belief that gave them a sense of hope when he became vice president. Perhaps a white man “at the top of African politics” would put things right and lead the way to prosperity, they said in their indoctrinated manner. He would make economic success and modernism the crests of the Zambian nation.
Scott is in the third year of his vice presidency. One would expect that his “high IQ” coupled with his academic achievements [PhD in cognitive science] would be clear testimony of Lynn’s claims. If the IQ boloney is anything to go by, we would, by now, have seen Scott spearheading Zambia to first world status. Blessed with “sheer natural ingenuity” he would have found an intelligent way of ensuring that his uncontrollable boss understands that it is on the core values of democracy that the success of Great Britain [the country of Scott’s origin] is dependent. We should have heard him threaten to resign due to Sata’s failure to exercise legal equality, freedom of the press, and the rule of law.
Understanding a constitution is the defining essence of a country, Scott would have scoffed the “show me an animal-driven constitution” and side with those who are calling for the release of the draft. Being a “genius” Scott should fully understand that China is an external predator in a Venetian mask; that Chinese presence in Zambia is no different from that of Cecil Rhodes in early 1900s. He should be tutoring his boss on the dangers posed by Chinese investment and advising him to resist any exploitative deals.
By now Zambians should be applauding Scott for devising a most feasible solution to our economic and unemployment woes. We should be seeing clear signs of Zambia embracing globalization, free market capitalism, education, and strict pragmatic policies. Scott, by now, should be connecting us to the developed world and convincing their nationals to resuscitate our mines and reclaim our ranking as the second highest producer of copper in the world after Brazil. We should be giving him credit for allowing Western investors to manufacture in Zambia and thanking him for the training of unskilled workers in information technology.
It is clear Scott has not done any of such, and to imagine he is going to is wishful thinking. His degrees in Economics and Science hang on his wall like those of other educated Zambians. There is no scientific innovation to his credit. There has not been since he graduated and returned home. His comments and statements are no different from say Wynter Kabimba’s. In his recent television interview Scott said the following: “The Constitution is not a magic formula to take the place of governance. Good Governance is more important than the Constitution which entails that the people who lead you have to be sincere, genuine and take seriously the obligations of setting up schools, hospitals, roads, etc.”
Clearly his utterance is unintelligent. What IQ Scott chooses to discount is the fact that it is the provisions contained in the constitution that lead to good governance; that it is the constitution that provides a Code of Conduct for elected politicians; and that the constitution carries with it the enactment and judicial validation of accountability and transparency. It is the constitution that is a precursor to good governance.
From the time he took the oath of office, we have been watching Scott eat his own words. Most of the stuff he wrote in his Post column in 2010-11 is coming back to haunt him. He once wrote: “The press provides the means for reporting events and expressing views that represent checks and balances on our elected leadership. A competition amongst the media – such as we are seeing in Lusaka FM radio stations – contributes greatly to quality, and the public also deliver their checks and balances against poor quality nonsense through their patronage.” Sadly, today Scott is part of the system that is shuttering online publications, intercepting radio programs, and jailing dissident journalists and activists.
Scott even went as far as lecturing us on why Africa is so disorganized. “There are two schools of thought,” he wrote. “The first, which I will characterize as “English speaking,” tends to believe it is due to inexperience and immaturity on the part of Africans and/or African institutions…” the other school of thought, tending to be “French speaking,” says that Africans are perfectly good organizers and managers. It is just that they have discovered that deliberately-induced chaos can be a useful tool and they tend to use their managerial abilities to bring it about. Chaos, disorder, whatever you want to call it, is a useful instrument for achieving many goals including stealing money, evading justice and, above all, maintaining political power.”
Both lines of thought are very true and they are Scott’s heartfelt impression of African politicians. Sadly, Scott is no different from the Africans he deprecates. To our dismay, we have watched him become part of the chaos and disorder. A dealer of misinformation and image-repairer of his capricious boss, Scott has mastered the technique of rapid rebuttal, often with a Pinocchio nose and finds pleasure in evading justice in order to maintain power.
What does this tell us? It tells us that Guy Scott, born and bred in Zambia, is no different from us. He is one of us. Like all of us he was provided with the Zambian social and environmental stimuli during his childhood. Although being white he was reared in favorable environs and buffered by his well-to-do parents, his scholastic aptitude is no different from intelligent Zambians with similar qualifications.
It can therefore be concluded that how and where one was raised plays a pivotal role in one’s intelligence. For instance, had Scott stayed at Oxford as a researcher or worked in a robotics company in England it is possible he would have become part of Britain’s distinguished inventors. Why? Because of the various opportunities for enlarging knowledge and the availability of appropriate tools that make imagination an important part of intelligence. This is a fact that Lynn and his legion of followers choose to intentionally ignore. Ladies and gentlemen we are but the same people.
THE Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) has rejected the calls from some senior party members to hold an extra ordinary national convention to elect new leaders.
MMD Southern Province chairperson Oliver Pelete said the position of the party in the province was that calls for the convention were baseless because there was no crisis in the former ruling party.
Mr Pelete said in an interview yesterday that the provincial leadership had already written to the party secretariat in Lusaka that it was not in support of hosting an extra ordinary national convention.
“The reasons that have been advanced by those championing the hosting of the national convention don’t hold any water.
“For instance, you cannot blame one individual such as MMD president Nerves Mumba for our failure to win by-elections,” Mr Pelete said.
He said MMD was not the only party which was losing by-elections opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) and ruling Patriotic Front (PF) were also losing some by-elections.
“We have won some by-elections and lost some and this is the trend with UPND and MMD so you can’t blame an individual,” Mr Pelete said.
He said Southern Province was solidly behind the leadership of Dr Mumba as he was the correct leader.
“If MMD has to win the 2016 elections, we need Dr Mumba to remain as party president. Further, Zambia is a Christian nation and we need a man of God if we are to succeed as a party,” Mr Pelete said.
Recently, MMD vice presidents Michael Kaingu and Brian Chituwo as well as party spokesperson Dora Siliya called for the holding of the extra ordinary national convention to choose new leaders.
MMD presidential Spokesperson Muhabi Lungu says it is not right for the Patriotic Front (PF) government to remain silent on the Kwacha’s continued depreciation against other global currencies.
Mr. Lungu says Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda should come out in the open and explain to the nation how government intends to ensure the country’s currency is strengthened.
Mr. Lungu has told Qfm News that this is on the backdrop of the fact that the business community has lost confidence in the country’s economy due the policies the PF government is implementing.
He says this loss of confidence in the economy is evident in how despite revoking Statutory Instruments 33 and 55, the Kwacha has continued to lose value.
Meanwhile, Mr.Lungu has described as a sad development the decision by the government to allow the Technical Committee to hand over copies of the final draft constitution and other accompanying documents to the Permanent Secretary for Administration at the Ministry of Justice instead of the Head of State as earlier indicated.
He says this is an indication that the PF government has no commitment whatsoever towards delivering a people driven constitution.
FILE: PF Secretary General Wynter Kabimba,Northern Province Minister Freedom Sikazwe and Provincial Treasurer Chomba Chipili shows a party symbol
SOME Patriotic Front (PF) women’s leaders in Eastern Province have petitioned party secretary general Wynter Kabimba to drop provincial chairperson Lameck Mangani from his position.
But Mr Kabimba advised them to go back so that he can consult with Mr Mangani, the advice they refused. They said they would escalate the petition to President Sata.
PF deputy secretary general Bridget Atanga told journalists after Mr Kabimba received the petition that the secretary general reminded them that Mr Mangani is a member of the central committee and that the matter should be tabled at a higher level.
But Mr Mangani said in an interview from Chipata that the women are being used by the opposition to destabilise the party in the province.
PUPILS at Kelongwa Primary School in Kasempa District have now gone over one year learning from church and court buildings.
This follows delayed rehabilitation of the school, which was closed by health authorities in February last year because of the dilapidated state of the building infrastructure.
This subjected pupils to learning from church and court buildings in the areas.
Kasempa District Commissioner Victor Keyekesi said in an interview yesterday that the pupils at the school had to date continued to learn from church and court building structures within the area.
He said this was because the school required extensive renovations to make the building infrastructure safe for learning.
“The school developed huge cracks and was on the verge of collapse due to lack of maintenance as it had not received any facelift since 1948 when it was constructed,” he said.
Mr Kayekesi said Government in January this year provided some funds about K70, 000 to help with renovations of the school but that the money was not sufficient to cater for the huge works involved in improving the state of the dilapidated infrastructure.
The district commissioner, however, said the comforting thing to the parents was that Government had now embarked a project for construction of a boarding school in the same area.
“The site on which the boarding school is to be constructed has already been identified and a Chinese contractor has done the clearing in readiness to commence the project,” he said.
Mr Kayekesi expressed happiness with the boarding school project because it raised hope among parents who had started losing hope of their children accessing quality education.
Tourism and Arts Minister Sylvia Masebo arrives at the Supreme Court buildings in Lusaka yesterday to attend sittings of a tribunal that has been appointed to investigate her
FORMER Minister of Tourism and Arts Sylvia Masebo has dragged former Minister of Transport and Communications William Harrington to court, claiming damages she suffered during a tribunal set up to investigate her at his instigation.
This comes 10 days after she was cleared by the Roydah Kaoma-chaired tribunal of alleged professional misconduct.
Mr Harrington had petitioned acting Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda to appoint a tribunal to probe Ms Masebo’s alleged misconduct.
In her writ of summons filed in the Lusaka High Court yesterday, Ms Masebo has argued that Mr Harrington had no interest in the matter he petitioned the acting Chief Justice over.
She said Mr Harrington’s allegations were based on newspaper publications, adding that he was aware that he had no evidence to prove a case of breach of the provisions of the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct Act as he knew from the beginning that the allegations levelled against her fell outside the scope of the Act.
Ms Masebo, who is also PF Chongwe Member of Parliament (MP), said Mr Harrington knew that issuing the allegations fell within matters that could be investigated under the Code of Conduct, and he had no evidence to prove that Ms Masebo gained pecuniary advantage which is a pre-requisite for any complaint to be made under part two of the Act.
She further claims that she was subjected to lengthy, tedious and humiliating proceedings before the tribunal based on a complaint lodged by Mr Harrington in the full knowledge that the complaint of the breach of the code of conduct did not meet the threshold under the said Act.
Ms Masebo said Mr Harrington was also aware that a case could not be found against her on some of the allegations levelled as he previously made similar allegations against another minister, which also failed as both the High and Supreme courts ruled that such allegations could not be the basis of a complaint under the said Act.
She said as a result, her reputation has been put into ridicule, odium and disrepute and that she has been put to considerable expense in defending the allegations.
Ms Masebo is demanding costs of legal bills to three legal firms that were defending her during the tribunal sittings, transport costs of witnesses to and from Lusaka, and upkeep of witnesses while in Lusaka.
She is also demanding costs for accommodation and other facilities to facilitate her preparation of the defence.
Ms Masebo is further demanding damage for malicious institution of civil proceedings, interest at current bank lending rate, special damages, costs and any other relief that the court may deem fit.
She said she has been harmed and that she has suffered mental anguish, adding that during the two-week tribunal sittings, she was prevented from attending to her official business.
Ms Masebo said during the tribunal sittings, she also suffered loss and damages.
The Kaoma report found that Ms Masebo did not breach the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct.
The tribunal said this is because there was no evidence to show that Ms Masebo obtained pecuniary advantage in the manner she conducted herself over Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) operations.
The report also states that much as Ms Masebo had no powers to fire ZAWA officers, her decision to dismiss them did not in any way make her acquire pecuniary advantage.
She is represented in the matter by Simeza, Sangwa and Associates, Mulenga Mundashi and Company and Elis and Company.
The Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) has challenged the Central Statistical Office (CSO) to help tell the nation the exact number of jobs the PF government has created since coming to power in 2011.
ZFE Executive Director, Harrington Chibanda, has told QFM News in a telephone interview that there is need for government to give the exact numbers of jobs that have been created rather than giving contradicting figures.
Mr. Chibanda states that there is also need for government to state clearly what kind of jobs have created whether temporal or descent ones.
He says it is not enough to merely state that so many jobs have been created in the road construction sector considering that road construction jobs are not permanent jobs.
Mr Chibanda notes that there are too many contradicting statements coming from government officials claiming that so many quality jobs have been created without proof.
Mr. Chibanda says it is therefore, necessary and important that the Central Statistical Office clears the air by telling the nation how many jobs the PF has actually created.
The Chamber of Mines of Zambia has expressed concern on the announcement by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) to increase electricity tariffs for mining companies under the Bulk Supply Agreement by 28.8 per cent, effective 2nd April 2014.
The Energy Regulation Board (ERB) has authorized state-power utility ZESCO to increase power tariffs for all mining companies in the country by 28.8 per cent.
Chambers of Mines of Zambia Chief Executive Officer, Maureen Dlamini, says while the mines understand the need for utilities to earn a fair return on their investment to be able to efficiently and sustainably operate and maintain the infrastructure, cognizance must be taken of the long term nature of the mining business.
Ms. Dlamini says due to the long term nature of mining investments, corresponding long term planning from a policy and regulatory perspective is necessary to attract and retain investment in this sector.
She points out that power supply to mining companies is governed by commercial contracts entered into mutually by ZESCO and respective companies taking into account the full commercial circumstances prevailing at the time of entering into such contracts, and anticipated to occur over the life of the contract.
Ms Dlamini adds that the mining sector agreed to extra ordinary tariff increases of 35 per cent in 2008 and 30 per cent in 2011 outside existing contracts on the understanding that investments would be made to improve the quality of power being supplied to the industry.
She notes that with the falling of commodity prices on the global market which has been forecasted to remain low over the medium term against the rapid increase in production costs, the mining customers are asking for a robust, transparent and long term tariff migration path.
Ms Dlamini says this would help the mining companies to adequately plan for their critical inputs.
She states that the statement from the ERB is notably vague on how it expects the parties to these contracts to implement its ruling, which has once again been made in total disregard of the of the existence of commercial contracts, and without any prior formal communication to the affected parties in the mining sector.
Ms Dlamini appeals to the Energy Regulation Board to review its decision to increase tariffs for the mining sector as this will exert excessive pressure on the mining companies.
This is contained in a statement made available to QFM News by Chambers of Mines of Zambia Communications Manager, Talent Ng’andwe.
About 70 percent of pupils that are re-admitted after falling pregnant at Mwajimambwe Primary School in Chief Mumena’s area in Solwezi district fall pregnant again.
School Head Teacher Titus Kikolomo said some school girls are reported to be abusing the re-entry policy that government has put in place to help them complete their education despite falling pregnant.
Mr Kikolomo said some girls are abusing the policy hence the need for government to attach a limit to the number of times one can be re admitted back into school.
He said the policy will only work effectively if there are limits.
Mr Kikolomo was speaking yesterday when a parliamentary committee on legal, human rights, and governance and child affairs visited Chief Mumena yesterday.
He said the re-entry policy is a good policy as it accords girls to complete their education despite the circumstances they find themselves in.
The head teacher added that the re-entry policy was somehow breeding indiscipline in some of them.
The committee was in the chiefdom to interact with Chief Mumena and his subjects on how Gender Based Violence is being addressed in the area.
