Some residents of Kitwe’s Kawama, Chimwemwe, Kwacha, Buchi, Kamitondo on Monday morning staged a riot over allegations that ZAFFICO has been sold off to a Chinese private buyer by the Industrial Development Corporate.
The rioters also stoned a Clinic in Twatasha compound.
Copperbelt Provincial Police Commissioner Charity Katanga confirmed that the riots started in the morning and that some rioters have been picked up by police.
She said police will release a comprehensive report later today but that property that was looted in the riot has been recovered.
And Kitwe district commissioner Binwell Mpundu says he is disappointed that people could resort to uncivilized ways of responding to issues instead off dialogue.
Some of the rioters wondered why the PF government is treating the Chinese investors like Kings at the expense of ordinary Zambians.
The irate Residents denounced the PF government by chanting anti-Chinese slogans and wondered why the country is selling everything to the Chinese.
Some of the rioters wondered why the PF government is treating the Chinese investors like Kings at the expense of ordinary Zambians.
The riots follows another one which was staged by ZAFFICO workers in Kalulushi District on Friday who blocked roads demanding information that government has sold Zaffico to the Chinese.
According to the proposal in the 2019 national budget, government wants to list ZAFFICO shares on the Lusaka Securities Exchange, a move which has brought controversy as it has sparked debate that a Chinese investor is already lined up to buy the company.
But Lands Minister Jean Kapata last week rubbished the claims saying the listing of Zaffico shares on the Securities Exchange has nothing to do with rumours that the company will be sold off to Chinese.
Meanwhile, the Industrial Development Corporation has refuted claims that ZAFFICO has been sold.
IDC public relations manager Namakau Mukulebai said that any information to the contrary is untrue.
Ms Mukelebai said that plans are underway to list ZAFFICO on the LuSE and all Zambians will have an opportunity to buy shares, thereby becoming part-owners of the company.
She said that listing on the LuSE will provide ZAFFICO an opportunity to raise cheaper and longer dated capital to finance business growth to spur job creation and enhance domestic resource mobilisation.
Why is everyone sitting on edge?
The President was just from there for crying out loud!
Japhen pull up your socks
Your greed, organised confusion, institutionalised corruption are all to blame. So now pf will launch another investigation to find out who organised the riots? HH nakabili!
I have said this before.
Kopala will be the ones to lead the way in evicting our thieving leaders.
Well done Kitwe, we hope the rest of the country can be brave enough to emulate.
What ever Kalaba Harry will say about ZAFFICO will be the truth.
Ba indigo kikiki . You think cb can rally behind a tonga like hh.
Zambia has better Tongas not one who sold mines and took money to Panama
Stop sleep walking
It is still UNELECTABLE.
This reports on the sale of ZAFFICO are unfortunate but this article by Lusaka Times is even more unfortunate because it contains some false information. Please LT get facts before publishing your articles. The line: “The riots follows another which was staged by ZAFFICO workers in Kalulushi District on Friday ……..”. This information is wrong and untrue as ZAFFICO workers DID NOT at any got involved in any of those demos. I am a ZAFFICO worker and I am asking Lusaka Times to unreservedly retract that part of the sentence and report correct information. If not I will seek legal redress against you.
Don’t be a coward
Mbulutati,
Indeed you are a coward. You are even proud in what you are saying?
Shame on you.
same chaps…..dont be a coward for sure
I am not dull. Take me seriously. Ignore me at your own peril.
Just wait for tomorrow. He is going to hold press conference at chalala condemning sell of ZAFFICO.
He is very childish like majority of his blind followers
It’s very unfortunate to see the rioter go ahead and damage other persons property. Why not go to the government office and go about with the riot there….after all they are the one whom “allegedly ” sold off the company.
Who is sponsoring you?
Ikalafye schopet
Go ahead and seek legal redress from one lawyer called Edgar Jonathan Lungu
Seriously, you cant sell everything including the forests, NO! In PF we believe in being truth and honest and if this thing is true, then its a bad move and must be halted immediately. It doesnt take a foreign investor to come and plant trees in our land, a thing we have been managing ourselves all these years. On this one, I support those raising concern! Our land isnt for sale for God’s sake.
Let us just be prudent in managing these things ourselves instead of rushing to selling everything. Its practically impossible to for a Zambian to own land abroad and we can also smartly and innovatively make it very difficult for a foreigner to own land except one is a serious investor, with well laid out plans and can prove that their intention is create quality and sustainable employment…
What a government, now very soon will become slaves and homeless people.what was ours will be for foreigners. What a shame.
Plz put things together.because ZAFFICO has a huge number of people now think of this if they become thieves and killers,what you lthe government will do. SHAME
Dununa reverse, didn’t`t you dance with them, now dance to the vision…less!! every thing is up for grabs.
contd
Its practically impossible to for a Zambian to own land abroad and we can also smartly and innovatively make it very difficult for a foreigner to own land except one is a serious investor, with well laid out plans and can prove that their intention is create quality and sustainable employment. Land is the last thing that can be given to a foreigner period.
Let the so called investors invest in newer technologies and skills transfer, not things Zambians are capable and can do. By the way, do we still have reserve forests? Reserve forests or protected land are an important part of any nation and this must at all times be guarded jealously.
The Chinese are very good at almost anything so why not just give them land for a plantation? I’m they will outdo Zafficco.
even worse giving land to foreigners, that would be the worst decision on the face of the earth.
People will justify anything as long as they benefit from it.
Jonny you’re right but I have a question. Why is it that things like concrete blocks manufactured by the Chinese in Zambia with Zambian cement, sand and labor costs much less than those done by Zambians? Example a Chinese made 6in block is going at K3.50 and one by a Zambian is selling at K4.50 and usually of poor quality. What’s the secret. Who should the consumer buy from? By expensively from the Zambian for the sake of supporting our local businessman or the Chinese for the sake of saving some money? Why don’t our people find out more? By the way where a Zambian is paying K20 per day per a casual worker, the Chinese is paying between K30 and K35 for the same labor and period. Let’s learn their secret.
You imbeciles,
China has more land than we do.
Let them start plantations in their own country.
We can learn their ways and how they do business but we cant sell or give land, ask South Africans 90% their land is owned by 2% of the population which is white people and just to get back is another struggle, we don’t want that for our future generations, the problem with us Zambian`s is we want to maximise profits where we have already made profit, take a supplier to govt they charge for the service three times over and unfortunately it is in our nature due to kunichekeleko, I mean even the president encouraged eating from the farm, what do you expect from a normal Joe soap
Iwe indigo. How can you start plantation when he has taken all the land in namwala and put animals. Think indigo. Think.
Right now we have no timber
150x50x5000 mm sw timber jumped from K55 to K150
Zambian s are bloody lazy politicking morons.
Give zaffico to Chinese you will see.
These lazy chibuku drunkards must learn hard work than attending political rallies
Chiluba cheated them
Sata cheated
Today hh/gbm trying to cheat these morons on the copper belt
Am a non partisan political consultant
non partisan kuto we know you ma PF drop outs… otherwise the top part of what you said is true…we need to work hard kwasila
Ati pf drop out, that means he is NDC or whats kalaba’s party? Kikiki iwe .
If its true then this is very very very very very very very very x100000000000000000000000000000000 WRONG. I thought these guys were satisfied with the mukula tree we smuggle for them now they want all they trees.
The problem is NOT with China, but OUR own leaders being corrupt.
Do not hate the Chinese, hate the people enabling them.
5 months ago sales at Zafficco were suspended due to massive fraud and thefts involving mainly company senior employees. Some sawmills were blacklisted for their part in the fraud. The situation was bad as many casuals (ZemaNdola) who depend on the sawmill jobs for their daily bread had nowhere to turn to. The fraud involved millions of kwacha.
President Edgar Lungu should know that majority Zambians hate HH because of his involment in the sale of Govnt assets with late FTJ Chiluba.Therefore,ECL is playing with fire by taking Kainde’s route.Senior PF officials must advise the preisident properly.Yes Zaffico can be sold if it is not making profit but not to be sold to the Chinese.We(PF followers) are not blind supporters like our friends in UPND.We call a spade,a spade.Therefore,please president Edgar Lungu relax.We cant continue like this.BY SO SAYING,AM NOT IN ANYWAY SUPPORTING HH,NEVER BECAUSE HE SOLD OUR COMPANIES AND WE CANT VOTE FOR HIM(HH)!!!
Please ba ECL do the right things.Do not sell ZAFFICO.Just find ways of making it profitable-period!!
Don’t say WE, us who knows and understand, that HH was not the one who sold the mines will vote for him.
Most of the plantations have minerals, that’s FTJ was advised not to sale ZAFFICO together with the plantations. Government must learn to engage stakeholders whenever they embark on any such program. With the coming of social media and an irresponsible opposition there’s a lot of misinformation. Please PF pull up your socks
Iwe are a nephew to chama chakomboka.
Thats crap.
Most you chapss yapping have never been to china.
Chinese are not lazy chibuku drunkards. They are hard workers
Dont be misslead by hh/gbm . These are just crooks. If by luck they win you will see his business back and even the pot belly will return mumbala uyu.
Chaps have no plan just waiting for pf to die a natural death so that they take over like hynas. They really annoy me.
Tell us what you will do. All you are telling us is PF failures
Am a non partisan political consultant
Very dull man indeed “its political”.
How does HH or GBM come into this mess?
It is people like you killing our country.
Zambia is above Lungu and HH.
Wake up!
I am not dull. Take me seriously. Ignore me at your own peril.
Just wait for tomorrow. He is going to hold press conference at chalala condemning sell of ZAFFICO.
He is very childish like majority of his blind followers
Get lost. How can you say we give whoever what is so nice to us? Mind you it is Zambian who planted those trees and they take long .seems you are sponsored traitors and you are too many too
This is a bad indicator for the PF let them tell President Lungu what is on the ground. He was recently if not still there in the copperbelt and he was told everything is under control and they hired cadres to give him an impression that everything is ok. Alas its the opposite
Are these the outcomes of the prayers we recently had
Not out of prayers. But illiteracy on the CB.
There is a lot of ignorance in Zambia and someone is taking advantage of it to misinform the masses. How do you start rioting without any facts based on rumours and who are you going to blame if you are arrested?? Media literacy is very important, only a fool believes anything and everything it reads or hears. Do your due diligence before you react. Listing these companies on the LUSE is the only way Zambians will benefit from the companies apart from employment but of course the people rioting do not understand.
Going by what is happening in zbia today, those riots are just the beginning.
This is another penalty for U5
But he will miss again.
Give him 4 more chance s
Let gbm try one short
Zabwino Palibe ZP,
Go back and finish G9 please.
Yes this could be beginning of bad things!
Yes.
Bad things to thieving corrupt leaders.
Well done Kopala!!!!
Lungu azakambila kusogoro very soon.
Iyo Kwena Ba Zambia!
Any company that gobbles tax payers many every year must be gotten rid of.
Government must not relent on this one.
And the roads in the picture? Ok, I reserve my comment.
Lies run in the spines of our leaders……………Sooner than later they will admit that they have sold ZAFFICO………
more money in their pockets, bane. You did not hear them correctly during their campaigns…More money in their pockets not in our pockets…………
You voted them in…Let them eat as much as they can especially that they had hard times in chawama when their licences was withdrawn………….
Copperbelt you voted them en mass but you riot……….. KOPALA you love cheap life and are easily duped…..You have no reason to complain…………….
You chase opposition leaders in Copperbelt and called others tribalists……… this is your pill to swallow……..You reap what you sow
In fact there is no riot here. I can only see police. Maybe police are rioting.
There is no wind of change. But 2026 things will be bad for PF. So upendi must be patient.
No one will remove pf from power. pf will simply commit suicide and who ever will be around will take govt.
HH-2026
Am a non partisan political consultant
Government has refuted claims that zafico is on sale to the Chinese business man. Jean Kapata said will address the masses about government stances on zafico. The issue is that matters like this one lands on the wrong people particularly opposition political parties, they don’t waste time. They make sure they mislead en masses . In the end, truth is coming out to the shame of UNPATRIOTIC CITIZENS. We have seen and heard that before, talk of NRDC, SHOW GROUNDS, ZNBC etc. Reports perpetrated by opposition political parties have proven to be 100% false propaganda.
Just continue stealing, thief.
What a beautiful country which we risk giving to trib.al Hacks and GBV and Neckless Kambwili! All because our government is not transparent for reasons known to themselves?
For God’s sake what is wrong with explaining what you want to do before opposition take advantage with falsehoods?
Ignorance pa Zambia is just too much. Instead of taking advantage of a publicly listed company and buy shares, they go to riot blaming chinese of wanting to buy the company. Just buy shares, the more locals buy the less influence by chinese. Please politicians stop capitulating on the ignorance of the Zambians in the hope of getting votes.
Truth be told, both the ” riots’ in kalulushi and this one in Kitwe did not involve ZAFFICO workers – the first one was by saw millers and the second by some youths in Nakadoli. As for the sawmills, I wonder why the strike? Could it be connected in a convoluted way with the recent ZAFFICO financial scam?
Anyway, Dora Siliya / japhet / PF structures, you have to be much more PRO-ACTIVE. It was the same with NRDC – be pro-active – your enemy does not sleep!
Would that enemy expect to rule a country in ruins? These people don’t have brains. Once civil strife enters your country, you will not find any door for its exit.