Vote for Right Party, ZCTU Urges Members

4 June 2011

ZAMBIA Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has urged members of the union to vote for a party that has brought meaningful development in Zambia.

ZCTU national trustee Betty Mutambo said the congress would not tell its members who to vote for but would encourage them to vote for a political party that has brought development near them.

She said this at a meeting held at Zambezi Basic School in Livingstone.

“ZCTU won’t tell you who you should vote for, but you should vote for a political party that is trying to bring development near you,” Ms Mutambo said

She said there was need for the congress to advise its members as most of them did not have time to watch TV or read newspapers so that they could make informed decisions.

“Most of you do not have time to watch TV or read newspapers so that you can see the development that is happening in Zambia,” Ms Mutambo said.

The national trustee said the union should work with the Government of the day as it was the only way the union could help to solve the challenges that its members were facing.

Ms Mutambo said that it is unfortunate that the union is usually misunderstood if it works with the Government of the day.

She said that there was need to ensure that there was unity in the union so that the spirit of unionism could be kept alive.

Ms Mutambo said there was nothing wrong with the union praising the Government for the development it was bringing to the people of Zambia.

“We are not in politics but all we want is the welfare of the people only, if the politicians are not taking care of us, we shall speak out,” she said

The national trustee said it was wrong for the media to label the union of having gone to bed with the Government each time it praised the Government.

She called on the union to put its house in order as the divisions that existed would not work for the good of the members.

“The members say that the leaders are toothless, it means that the members are tooth- less as they also fail,” she said

District Commissioner Francis Chika said the relationship between the Government and union is cordial as they have always solved issues amicably.

He said there was need for that spirit to continue and that the partnership could not be over emphasised.

Mr Chika said President Rupiah Banda was doing everything possible to improve the conditions of service of workers.

Mr Chika said the Government has scored a lot of development despite the people in the streets thinking that there was no development.

He said Government was striving to ensure that there was economic and infrastructure development.

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