By Martin Mushumba
Like any other citizen in Zambia, I keenly followed the protest by the Resident Doctors. Their message is clear: They want to be employed. I have no doubt it is within their right to express their opinion through a protest. It is also within their right to obey the laws that govern protests.
Similarly, the teachers that have waited to be put on payroll by the Government have lost their patience. Again, it is within their right to protest and seek redress from the Government.
It is without doubt that the plans being advanced by the Government regarding plans to create employment opportunities for the youths have not been brought to the attention of the public. Effective communication and enhanced updates on what is being done by the Government will remove this anxiety among the youths.
However, being a keen follower of public policy masters, I am aware that the Government has clearly mapped out strategies of creating job opportunities for it’s youth. The employment of 30,000 teaching staff as well as 11,200 health workers are all in the public domain.
Resident Doctors fall under the Health sector where a total of 11,200 jobs has been announced. Hence, I am of the opinion that the Resident Doctors are aggrieved by the pace at which the process is taking to actualize the matter. The same goes to other sectors such as education.
Nonetheless, the Government did indicate that it had been engaging the Ministry of Education to ensure that the teachers that needed to be promoted were promoted to create room for the those that were awaiting to be put on payroll. This would help to attend to those teachers not put on payroll, some of whom have waited since 2017. The exercise was reaching it’s conclusion and the Government has created over 7000 spaces in just moving teachers through promotions. This similar exercise is also being conducted by the Ministry of Health.
In view of the foregoing, it is important to reflect on why doctors and teachers are seemingly so comfortable with protesting even when all this information is in the public domain. These are teachers who dared not protest under the previous regime that failed to put them on payroll for over four years. Similarly, these are doctors that have not been employed for over four years.
The answer is simple. Never should you be tempted to quickly think that these youths have been sponsored by elements that are tirelessly working on frustrating the Government. These are rational youths that are able to think and make independent choices and in this case their choice is to ignore the information available regarding the Government’s plans to recruit them and opt to go ahead and protest.
But why is it so? Again, we are alive to the fact that the Government has brought in a new era of enhanced freedoms and liberties in our country. People have found back their freedoms which the previous Government got away from them. Among the freedoms that our people had lost under the previous Government were the freedom of expression, freedom of association and the right to freely demonstrate. With all these freedoms restored by the new administration, our people are so eager to exercise them.
Besides, the Zambia Police under the new Government is so friendly and very professional in the manner it is dealing with the citizenry. The youths are not threatened anymore to protest. The Zambia Police has become more engaging and accommodative. The country has seen cases where our youths after protests have been peacifully escorted in Police vehicles and even fed after protests. It is a new era indeed, the youths are now eager to exercise their right to protest which otherwise was a threat to life in the previous Government.
Therefore, lack of full information among the youths on the employment plans of the Government and the enhanced freedoms facilitated by the new Government are among the reasons why the youths have been using protests to be heard. Factor in a friendly Police service that quickly has adapted to the democratic principles being propagated by the new Government.- muvi tv