Mufulira’s Patriotic Front (PF) Kantanshi Member of Parliament Dr. Anthony Mumba has warned that the New Dawn Government risk losing people’s support on the Copperbelt if it doe not quickly address challenges facing the mining sector.

Copperbelt Province-based mining giants Mopani Copper Mines and Konkola Copper Mines, currently owned by the Government, are financially struggling due to lack of capital investment in the operations.

Uncertainty surrounding the controversial ownership of Mopani and KCM by the government has not helped the prospect of capital injection in the mining firms that have operations in Kitwe, Mufulira, Chingola and Chililabombwe.

The two firms have been struggling to pay suppliers and contractors who are equally failing to pay their respective workers.

After holding a meeting with selected miners, who work for various contractors under Mopani Copper Mines in Mufulira, Dr. Mumba said several miners have not received their salaries for the last three to six months from their firms.

He also revealed that recently 400 miners have had their contracts terminated by firms dealing with Mopani in Mufulira and Kitwe.

Dr. Mumba vowed to continue speaking for the miners and expressed confidence that the mining sector will be revived soon.

“I had an opportunity to address the miners who work for various contractors under Mopani Copper Mine. The contractors include Reliant as well as AAC mining among other firms. During this meeting I came to learn of the poor conditions of service as well as the sad fact that close to 400 miners have had their contracts terminated. This is in addition to the fact they have not received their salaries for the last 3- 6 months. I am urging the UPND Government to quickly come to the rescue of our dear colleagues or else the government will slowly start to lose their social and political capital they enjoyed prior to the 2021 General Elections. My dear colleagues, I will continue to push for you and speak for you and am optimistic doors will soon open for you,” Dr. Mumba said.

Meanwhile, a concerned miner has lamented the current situation prevailing at Mopani in Kitwe and Mufulira.

“A situation at Mopani Copper Mines is worsening in Mufulira and Kitwe Sites.Only Mopani direct and permanent employees are getting paid. Workers for contractors like;Reliant Zambia,Timaja Drilling,Opermin Zambia Limited,Tauro Mining have not gotten paid their monthly salaries for over 6 months.The contractors used to pay the workers using their pocket monies for a few months but can no longer manage and as we speak,normal operations have been halted.Workers are being told to go home and that they be called back when things normalises.What are they going to be eating?Other contractors (smaller ones) at Mindola Mine in Kitwe alone like JM&J, Seven Two Two Investments, Shamuchisha, Chimwenda Investments, Molencia Investments and Rechi Investments have not gotten paid their salaries for about three months now,” said the miner who calls himself voice of the voiceless.

“The money they paid their workers in the first month was just borrowed and now debtors can no longer give debts to contractors from Mopani Copper Mines saying it currently have a blurred future. Yes, the UPND government is said to be working but when you come to the mines, the mines minister Hon. Paul Kabuswe seems not to be representing the miners the way we hoped. If you can talk about those who played a very big role from the Copperbelt then 3/4 of those are miners plus their families because we had faith in the promises that President HH gave the us when he was in the opposition.We have hope that things will get better but for how long shall we wait? We are losing our jobs as we speak from the mines. If our able government looked into the issue of unemployed teachers and health workers then it is high time you also looked into the issues of Mopani which is dying drastically,” he said.

“Lastly, Sanitech (contractor company) is currently removing mobile toilets from underground because they are not receiving their wages. If not careful, a negative health crisis is about to break out soon because workers will be easing themselves in the drainage running water in that the same workers use that water for body temperature cooling.For today, I will end here hoping to get positive results going forward.This is the situation miners from Nkana and Mufulira are facing,” the miner concluded.

Meanwhile, the government is aware of the challenges Mopani and KCM are facing.

Last week, President Hakainde Hichilema pleaded with Copperbelt residents to be patient as the government addresses challenges affecting the mining sector.

President Hichilema said the Government will soon announce new developments regarding the way forward on Mopani Copper Mines that need capital investment.

The Head of State said the Government is restoring sanity in the mining sector which was left in shambles by the previous Patriotic Front regime.

Mr. Hichilema said the PF regime made a big mistake by liquidating Konkola Copper Mines and when buying Mopani Copper Mines from Swiss firm Glencore.

“We are working rapidly to unlock the Glencoe problem. You know there is a Glencoe problem in Mopani there? Where 1.5 million dollars by our friends in PF. I don’t know..Kushipula ndelanda uku, how the transaction was done I don’t understand but it’s our duty to unlock it now. We have brought in everybody on the table and very rapidly ndelomba abena Kopala, we have demonstrated to you that we can unblock things. Let us continue working together in that direction. Let us not be despondent. Let us not go and do wrong things. We are on the right path to unlock KCM and Mopani and everybody will benefit from that. What benefit will it be to say now tatulefwaya ukubomba, no we down tools when the solution is coming,” he said.

Some miners working for contracting firms under Mopani Copper Mines recently down tools over salary arrears.

On 31 March 2021, ZCCM-IH acquired 90% of the shares in Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) from Carlisa Investment Corporation, owned by Glencore and First Quantum Minerals, following approval by ZCCM-IH shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting.

The amount negotiated was $1.5 billion to be repaid annually over a period of 10 to 17 years.

Lusaka Catholic Archbishop Alick Banda has said President Hakainde Hichilema and the law enforcement agencies seem to be paying a blind eye to the rising incidents related to homosexuality in Zambia.

Archbishop Banda said he has noted increased promotion of gay rights and rising cases of sodomy in Zambia in the last one year.

The Archbishop said homosexuality and promotion of gay rights is slowly taking root in the Zambian society, albeit complacency from the State and the law enforcement agencies.

Archbishop Banda warned that if nothing is done to raise awareness among people, LGBTQ+ will become an acceptable norm in Zambia, despite the existence of laws that criminalises these activities.

He called for action from all Zambians against offensive tendencies like homosexuality that is being manifested through sodomy.

“Corroding the fabric of our society. A call to action – against offensive tendencies
Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!My dear brothers and sisters in Christ and people of good will. I hereby wish to
address a thorny issue inter alia other issues that seem to be slowly taking root in our society, albeit complacency from the State and the law enforcement agencies. In the last 12 months, we have witnessed an increase in the number of incidents and events that promote LGBTG+ tendencies contrary to the Laws of Zambia and our Zambian culture. Additionally, there has been an increase in the number of incidents of sodomy where boys and men are raped by fellow boys and men with impunity.On Tuesday the 17th May 2022, the Swedish and Finnish Embassies in Lusaka flew gay pride flags, contrary to the provisions of article 20 of the Vienna Convention which allows foreign missions to only fly the flag and emblem of their country of origin on their premises.On Saturday, the 3rd September 2022, a company called PR Girl Media Limited hosted an event dubbed “Lusaka July 2022” at Lusaka Polo Club. Pictures and videos that emerged from this event showed attendants double dressing in attires of the opposite sex and appearing to promote LGBTQ+ behaviour,” Archbishop Banda said.

“Subsequent to the above events, we have witnessed several cases of sodomy and homosexuality on the increase in our society much to the displeasure and disapproval of the general public. Unfortunately, the law enforcement agents and the President who took oath to protect the Constitution seem to be paying a blind eye. The question that begs an answer is: Is it by design or by default?However, on Friday, the 16th September 2022, when a group of concerned citizens decided to undertake a peaceful protest in order to raise awareness to the ever escalating cases of homosexuality and sodomy in the country, the Police were quick to apprehend them together with journalists who were covering the event. These were detained, arrested and charged with unlawful assembly.The above events are alarming. If nothing is done to raise awareness among our people, LGBTQ+ will become an acceptable norm in Zambia, despite the existence of laws that criminalises these activities and worse still being offensive to our Cultural and Christian values,” Archbishop Banda said.

Archbishop Banda said it is necessary that Zambians act against the proliferation of LGBTQ+ and other vices which are averse and seem to be on the increase corroding the fabric of society such as abuse of authority, abuse of state institutions and arbitrary disrespect of the rule of law.

He announced that the Archdiocese of Lusaka, through its Directorate of Integral Human Development, is embarking on raising awareness against offensive trends which seem to be on the increase in society.

“From the foregoing, it is necessary to act against the proliferation of LGBTQ+ and other vices which are averse and seem to be on the increase corroding the fabric of our society such as abuse of authority, abuse of state institutions, arbitrary disrespect of the rule of law, the hounding of the opposition members and constitutional office bearers perceived not to toll the line, the rise of nepotism, hybrid hypocrisy, deception, and lies, etc.During His memorable sermon on the Mount, our Lord, Jesus Christ declared to His disciples that: “You are the salt of the earth…” (cf. Mt. 5: 13). The primary use of salt in ancient times among other things was to avert decaying of foodstuff. So, when Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth”, He is calling us to avert moral degeneration. We are therefore, invited to manifest in person and give witness to our Christian calling – to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.The Archdiocese of Lusaka, through its Directorate of Integral Human Development, is embarking on raising awareness against these offensive trends which seem to be on the increase in our society. To this effect, ADL – IHD will communicate an action plan in the next couple of days, spelling out the way forward. In the meantime, we are inviting all our faithful to pray and fast against all these vices that seem to be accepted by the authorities that be.May Mary the mother of the Child Jesus, intercede for us that our lives may become salt to avert moral degeneration and light to illuminate the world from the darkness of evil,” Archbishop Banda concluded.

Meanwhile, President Hichilema has again denied allegations that his government supports gay rights or homosexual rights.

The President said Zambia should discuss more important matters than issues of gay rights or homosexuality.

President Hichilema on Monday morning posted an old video on his official facebook page in which he denied allegations that his government supports gay rights.

“Zambia is a Christian nation. It is clear you will all agree but some times we want to extract sections of our communities and say these are not Christians. Yah, religion in diversity, Churches in diversity but one body of Christ. And I want to say it is not right, I am following what is going on in our country today. To say the New Dawn government is promoting lesbian rights, gay rights, that is not right. We have said it before in opposition and now in government that we do not gay, lesbian rights as a government. The records are there, the media houses carry those records from years back but today, in recent days people are propagating in church preaching about lesbian rights and UPND Government. New Dawn government doing this and that. That is divisit, you know it is not right. Let’s focus on unity, let’s focus on materiality. Things that matter for this country. Keeping our children in school matters more than the petty matters,” President said in the video.

“Good morning fellow citizens
Our position on this issue has been very clear and consistent from our days in opposition. We must focus our energy in addressing pressing issues affecting our people and not be detracted,” he stated in the text accompanying the short video.

The Queen’s life-long sense of duty has been remembered in her state funeral service at Westminster Abbey.

The Dean of Westminster, who led the service, expressed gratitude to a congregation of 2,000 people including world leaders and royalty.

King Charles III led a sombre procession behind his mother’s coffin from Westminster Hall to the abbey.

The Queen’s coffin will now be taken to Wellington Arch, at London’s Hyde Park Corner, to the solemn toll of Big Ben.

As the service came towards its end the Last Post was played – by the same team who performed it at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral – before the nation came to a standstill for two minutes’ silence.

The Dean, the Very Rev David Hoyle, began the service by speaking of the Queen’s “unswerving commitment to a high calling over so many years as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth”.

“With admiration we recall her life-long sense of duty and dedication to her people,” he said.

The service was filled with traditional church music and readings from the Bible.

As the Queen’s coffin entered Westminster Abbey the choir sang lines, known as the Sentences, put to music which have been used at every state funeral since the early 18th century.

Prime Minister Liz Truss read to the mourners from John 14 and the congregation sang The Lord’s My Shepherd – a hymn sung at the wedding of the Queen to the late Duke of Edinburgh.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, gave the sermon and quoted the singer Dame Vera Lynn – saying “we will meet again”.

The phrase was used by the Queen in a rare address to the nation at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

The archbishop said: “The grief of this day – felt not only by the late Queen’s family but all round the nation, Commonwealth and world – arises from her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us.”

The Queen’s coffin was conveyed – in the first of three processions throughout the day – from Westminster Hall where she had been lying in state since Wednesday.

The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex walked side-by-side behind their father, the King. The King walked alongside his siblings, the Queen’s children.

The procession to the abbey saw the State Gun Carriage carry the coffin, drawn by 142 sailors, while the sound of pipes and drum rang out.

US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are among the world leaders at the funeral.

Some 2,000 mourners are bidding farewell to the Queen at the state funeral, including 500 dignitaries – with presidents, prime ministers and foreign royalty among the guests.

There are also members of many European royal families, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark, as well as the Emperor and Empress of Japan.

Former prime ministers Theresa May, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, John Major and Boris Johnson are also at the historic abbey.

This is the first state funeral to be held since Sir Winston Churchill’s in 1965.

Following the service, the coffin will be drawn in a walking procession from the Abbey to Wellington Arch, at London’s Hyde Park Corner, to the sombre toll of Big Ben.

Gun salutes will also fire every minute from Hyde Park during the procession and people can watch in person from designated viewing areas along the route.

Once at Wellington Arch, at about 13:00, the coffin will be transferred to the new State Hearse for its final journey to Windsor Castle. There, the Queen’s coffin will enter St George’s Chapel for a committal service.

Attended by a smaller congregation of about 800 guests, the committal service will be conducted by Dean of Windsor David Conner, with a blessing from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

At a private family service later, the Queen will be buried alongside her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the King George VI memorial chapel, located inside St George’s Chapel.

source:BBC News