Former Zamtel employees in Kitwe yesterday regrouped at the telecommunication regional offices in Nkana East with the view to staging a protest over alleged underpayment of retrenchment packages.
The former employees who regrouped in the morning around 10:00 hours attempted to march from Kitwe to State House and were only prevented from doing so by Kitwe District Commissioner Elias Kamanga.
Mr Kamanga and Kitwe district police chief Chibesa Musa the planned walk by the former Zamtel employees who were protesting against alleged underpayment of their retrenchment packages.
“These former Zamtel employees wanted to walk to State House to meet President Sata to air their grievances concerning underpayment of retrenchment packages,” Mr Kamanga said.
He said according to the former employees, formula used to calculate their retrenchment packages was wrong and this caused underpayment.
“I pleaded with to first of all present their grievances to Cabinet office through the office of the provincial permanent secretary instead of them walking to State House because doing so would have caused panic,” he said
Rubbish! These people got so much money. Those who didn’t get much, it was because they owed Zamtel so much in terms of loans and when that was recovered they thought they had gotten less. The wise among them bought houses and invested in other businesses. the foolish went on a drinking and womanizing spree and thought that money would last forever. but now that they have blown it they want to protest. We should not entertain such.
Glad to see these Zambian citizens are so very interested to build a strong and competitive company now that Zamtel belongs to the Nation.
Thought they were promised there old jobs back by the populist!
This is why we need to invest in teaching citizens to work for themselves.
The HEADLINE is very misleading…. “zamtel workers protest”… These are formal workers, address them as such.. Zambian jounalism is very disappointing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nope. They are Zamtel workers because sata promised them their jobs back once they elected him. So they day sata was given instruments of power by rb, these guys became zamtel workers
Bad English, poor headline! Let them just find sumthng else to do. Are they the only workers? Everyone or countrywide underpayment or wat? Only former workers from Kitwe? Next case please…………………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why walk all the way to Lusaka? There are no buses or trucks to board? You mean the retrenchment package was so bad that now they can’t even afford bus fares? I saw them on TV where they over dramatised their plight. How can a fully grown man play in dirt just to put across their point? So they believed that they were going to get their jobs back and voted on that basis? Management made a right decision to get rid of this calibre of professionals.
How can someone decide to walk all the way from kitwe to lusaka???? ILIKO BAADOOO. Kabimba you see your fake promises how they have been misconstrued? Anyways, you are the board chair for PTC. so employ them as per promise.
you people you cant be paid more than what was due to you. what they paid you was what your worked for. how can you be paid what you dint work for? imwe ba mumbwe learn to think. is Sata so dull that he can pay you for what you didnt work for? companies have a way of renumerating emploteees,each month you work, part of your benefits are being kept for you. then at the end of your contract or at the time you are supposed to retire, they wil pay you what they kept for you! for zamtel workes, tel us how your contract was? where you on gratuity’? the MMD could have had flaws but it didint lack qualified personnels. mwanya mafi yenu thy wont pay you for what you didint work for! what you sholud do is to lobby for reinstement. not that nonsesne ba koswe imwe.
Why those former MMD workers want to protest to Sata, when they know the chief employer is Wynter Kabimba?
keep on crying.Things will never be the same!who do you believe in?
These never invested wisely with what they got as packages.
Those guys shud hv byn gvn their jobs bak instead! retrenchment package wont help them fend for their family and ada basic needs!