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Saturday, January 25, 2020

Fackson Shamenda warns mines laying off workers

Headlines Fackson Shamenda warns mines laying off workers

Labour Minister Fackson Shamenda

GOVERNMENT will not accept the laying off of workers by mining houses without following normal laid down procedures which include informing the Ministry of Labour and engagement of trade unions.

Labour and Social Security Minister Fackson Shamenda said mining houses should not take advantage of the current challenges to downsize labour force but that where there was need to do so in order to improve operational efficiency, normal laid down procedures would have to be followed.

Mr. Shamenda said this in a statement yesterday following a consultative meeting held at Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) Central offices in Kitwe with chief executive officers (CEOs) of various mining houses aimed at dissecting the challenges affecting the mines with regard to labour.

All the CEOs of the major mining houses save for Luanshya Copper Mines (LCM) attended the meeting that was facilitated by the Chamber of Mines.

The Minister, who was giving the resolutions of the meeting, said going forward in addressing the problem of job cuts in the mining industry, no mining house would be allowed to work in isolation in addressing their individual challenges.

Mr. Shamenda said the Government, managements of mining houses and the unions would from now onwards be required to work together in order to have a win-win situation.

He said before any decision to shed off labour could taken, individual mines would have to engage with labour unions to firstly explore ways of how to minimize the impact of the current challenges.

“This is not the first time that we are having these challenges because we have gone through moments where the mining sector is facing a crisis but the only thing important and required is for all of us to work together in order to minimize the impact of these challenges,” he said.

Mr. Shamenda said in order to exclusively deal with the challenges affecting the mining industry, it was resolved that the engagement should be extended to the Ministry of Finance together with Commerce, Trade and Industry in order to look at a broader economic situation as it relates to the sector.

The Minister assured of Government’s commitment to addressing the challenges affecting the mining industry.

Mr. Shamenda, who assured that Government was on top of things in handling the crisis affecting the mining industry, said his Ministry working together with the Ministry of Mines would continue to engage the mines to ensure harmony.

[Read 38 times, 1 reads today]


  1. It is high time the minister started looking outside the box for solutions. Mine companies are not charity companies. Zesco, Zamtel, ZR, NCZ to mention a few have been have been turned into Charity Companies as a result Zambia can not make progress, but regress. We have to borrow money to run these companies all the time. The government should find practical ways to employ people who are being laid off by the mines. Since the government is going to create 500,000 jobs between now and election time next year, the government should first employ those who are being laid off by the mines. The ministers should be more creative and innovative and should be asking solutions from the public.

    • Unfortunately it is the lowest paid workers who get laid-off, but not managers.
      Best is if the government lay-off all PF deputy ministers. And those salaries are divided to mines.

    • My prediction of the dismal fall of the kwacha under PF has finally been fulfilled. I remember very well how PF zealots condemned me as a prophet of doom when I first speculated that under PF the kwacha was gonna depreciate by more than 100% . Here we are now folks. What do PF idi0ts have to say about this?

      Blaming it on China is just pure madness because the fall of the kwacha started way before the Chinese crisis. The moment I heard PF under mad Sata had won,, I said Zambia is in deep trouble.

  2. I see no reason for panic. Isn’t ECL creating 500,000 jobs just in the next 12 months? This is an opportunity for government to prove that the creation of 500,00 jobs was not just one of those usual PF lies like the now proverbial “more money in your pockets”, which actually turned out to be more money in politicians’ pockets and less money in ordinary people’s pockets.

    • Wanzelu ur a finished woman. I don’t think ur a man. How can u be boasting about a prophecy you claimed to have made when in the first place u knew u were wasting our time. Shamenda has done what the upnd and co have failed to do. This government is on top of the situation and becoz EL is a highly favoured man no miner will lose work. Don’t bring useless things about the kwacha. After all it hasn’t reached the zimbabwe level. So shut up

  3. When gvt started dosing and let things slip there was no procedure followed. The mines can continue employing the miners but let the gvt pay the salaries. These criminals have never even run akantemba to understand how hard it is to run a business. You dont go into business to make losses. You can see the mentality thats why they keep galivanting even when they know there is no money. I am disappointed I thought this old man mandevu was a bit more inteligent than this. He talked of being involved in farming. I have never seen a farmer who thinks like this. We need people who can reason and provide meaningful solutions not these arrogant dogs. Kuya bebele!

  4. Blah blah blah blah blah blah!

    Of course the mines are going to follow laid down procedures. They do not need this clown to tell them that. But these workers will lose their jobs.

    What the Nation needs is a plan on how to solve the problem, and Fackson has said nothing about that.

    Does he have a plan? Does he even know what the problem actually is?


    • Even after 20 years of experience these dull politicians have never mastered this game, we still over reliant on the mines…what is truly laughable is Papa Smurf Fackson has over 40 years experience as a trade unionists and he didn’t see this one coming; this why these people need to retired to pasture.

  5. Well said Hon Shamenda.
    Zambian mines must benefit Zambians
    By the way, Why were the Chinese from Luanshya absent?
    This shows how they view GRZ!!!!

  6. Mr Shamenda, do you know the meaning and implications of the legal term force majeure. The moment electricity/power companies serve a force majeure on a mining house all such laws (normal way of doing things) get thrown out of the window. They can even shut down operations immediately and completely if they so desire. Be careful, consult and think before you open your mouth! That’s why you got sued by Dangote for defamation. You tried to bring in the attorney general and he ran away from you like a bad case of Ebola. These threats and ultimatums cant and wont stand in the courts of law (local or international) and may just lead to expensive litigation againist GRZ. WE HAVE OUR HANDS FULL OF PROBLEMS) ALREADY!

    • CONTD: Force majeure — meaning “superior force”, is also known as cas fortuit (French) or casus fortuitus (Latin) “chance occurrence, unavoidable accident”.[1] It is a common clause in contracts that essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as a war, strike, riot, crime, or an event described by the legal term act of God (such as hurricane, flooding, earthquake, volcanic eruption, etc.), prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract. In practice, most force majeure clauses do not excuse a party’s non-performance entirely, but only suspends it for the duration of the force majeure. Source: Wikipedia.THERE U HAVE IT MR SHAMENDA, AS LONG AS FORCE…

    • CONTD 2:There u have it MR Samenda long as FORCE MAJEURE REMAINS in place mining houses are/will be free from fufilling their obligations

  7. LT 5 comments in your headlines? Remember when you were blocking my comments because you thought you had a large following?

  8. Who ever opens their mouth in this government what comes out are warnings after warnings with no road map to address the economic crisis affecting the productivity of the country. What a countr!

  9. Surely what is there to negotiate Papa Smurf? How can this caliber of leaders even negotiate with the business savvy CEOs of these global corporations; the mines will simply say copper price is too low and fuel, energy and tax are too high – what is a dull corrupt papa smurf going to say? they will again give tax parachutes, energy discounts, more fuel subsidies at the expense of poor tax payers for a mere 1000 casual workers.
    This is why I support Windfall tax we all eat when the price of copper is high and we all suffer when its low…surely if this lazy bum Edgar was going to create 500000 jobs as he claims why is he worried about they mines?

  10. Shamenda said “going forward no mining company will layoff workers without informing GRZ……”

    So this was not part of the contract, no where was it written down that they should consult all stake holders. otherwise there is no way they could have just layed off the workers. They did not have to hold consultations. It not in black and white.
    This what we are saying. These ministers do not know what they are doing, shamenda is busy looking for bribes by accusing companies of corruption, when not the whole GRZ is looking for their cuts from the most expensive roads to build in the world.

  11. Every high ranking PF person in GRZ is a buissiness man. They spend 60 % of their time running thier tuntembas the rest is spend doing official work which includes looking for corruption. How can the minister of labour not know that the mines did not have to hold consultations when laying off workers??? The other day It took lungu to notice Zambia imports fish and cut chips. How can Zambia develop with this hopeless gang of wannabe business men in charge of the wellfare of our pipo???

  12. Unfortunately, in the story I have not seen where the mines stand with regard to the employees who have already been forced on leave

  13. Shamenda’s heart is very unclean like his beards. From his ranting it is clear mining companies did not buy into government schemes. We are in for more shocks in the Zambian labour markets as the pf Kwacha value continues what it knows best, namely “showing off in a free fall dive.” Bashi Tasila baliwila kumo in his visionless approach. These pf guys should stop lying that global bra, global this, global that because their fall began before China’s. PF have sacrificed jobs, kwacha, electricity and national unity to the devil who put them in power.

  14. The mines are run by investors and not GRZ, they put in money to get profit, without production where do you think they will get the money for all the overheads that go into running a company and that includes salaries, wake up bwana minister find solutions and markets for the copper and work on the power system;

  15. wanzelu, Ulibe nselu…
    Whatever your prediction, the fact is T.B Joshua prophesied the satanic manipulation of the US dollar to the extent that most world currencies would be negatively affected. That is the prophecy any wise person would listen to than predicting a currency fall because of one person. Your prophesy is totally out of Zambia as a Nation. Enjoy your stay in UK where you are.

  16. Patrick September,
    Don’t show your indolence so publically. What you quoted Mr Shamenda is part of the Labour laws of Zambia on “lay offs” procedures… that the mines ignored to involve the stakeholders before putting the mine labourers on forced leave. They ignored involving the Mines Union and the Government as stakeholders.
    Be careful with these so called investors as they just don’t want to buy electricity at premium cost rate. Not that they is not sufficient electricity, but that once they buy electricity at premium cost rate their profit will be affected.

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