By Simon Mwewa Lane
There is a warehouse located in the Makeni area that belongs to a Chinese man and his wife.
Apparently, there was a dispute between the zambian workers of the warehouse and the Chinese owners…the owners confronted some of their workers on the issue of stolen money and stolen items within the warehouse.
In an act of retaliation, the workers allegedly killed and burnt the wife of the warehouse owner along with a young Chinese couple that worked in the same warehouse. The husband of the murdered Chinese woman is currently in China and has made arrangements to fly back to Zambia upon hearing the news of his murdered wife.
The Chinese community suspect that the zambian workers from the warehouse acted in retaliation because they had been confronted by the Chinese owners on the issue of stolen money and stolen goods…so the Zambian workers took advantage of the current anti-Chinese sentiment that is currently on the rise in Zambia and they allegedly murdered the 3 Chinese nationals.
Let’s be clear…labour malpractice is different from cold blooded murder.
The Chinese community feels that Zambians don’t care when news breaks out about Chinese nationals being killed in cold blood…but the nation is up-in-arms when Zambians are restricted from going home after knocking off.
There is clearly a labour malpractice issue within some of the Chinese establishments within Zambia…however murdering a Chinese national in cold blood is simply barbaric and has no place in a society of laws.
This sad story should make us all pause for a moment and ensure that we’re sending the right message out there…any malpractice has to be reported to the relevant authorities…The Mayor has done a good job of highlighting work place discrimination…Ministry of Labour must now do their job of ensuring that our people are safe and their working conditions are fair…BUT MURDER IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.
The Police has to now send a strong message to our people and in the strongest possible terms CONDEMN this savage act.
You can’t kill a Chinese national by taking advantage of the current anti-Chinese sentiment. You will be arrested, tried and sent to prison for Murder.
My condolences to the Chinese community in Zambia.
SML
#ChineseNATIONALunderSeige