NDC national chairperson Richard Luonde says trade union leaders have duped their members in the civil service over the debt swap.
Commenting on the ongoing debate over the government ‘debt-swap’, Fr Luonde called the exercise a hoax.
“Right now, we have the issue of the debt swap which PF is promising civil servants. We are just remaining with three weeks before a general election. Where will this government find money to subsidise these loans?” he asked. “Civil servants get these loans at higher interest rates from banks and micro-finance institutions. And this PF government is telling them that it will deduct from them at 10 per cent. If, for example the loan was obtained at 40 per cent interest, where will this PF government find money to subsidies the 30 per cent? It’s a pity that unions have also joined in duping their members.”
He wondered why the government could not use the same money to pay Eurobonds on which they defaulted last September.
Fr Luonde pleaded with civil servants not to fall into the trap, warning that it would land them into more serious problems.
“Not only that, this is a government that defaulted on external debts last year because they have swept all our coffers. So, where will they get money from to pay for civil servants’ loans?” Fr he asked. “It’s a hoax. And I hope that our civil servants can read through this lie. Otherwise, civil servants will cry after August 12, especially if they make a mistake of voting back these criminals. PF will just abandon them on the way and surrender them back to the banks at the original interest rates.”
And Fr Luonde said he longed for trade union movements that existed over 30 years ago.
He wondered what had happened to the current trade unionists whom he said have stopped representing their members.
“I want to talk about the sham trade unionism obtaining in Zambia of late. Unionism in Zambia is no longer a representation of workers, but a representation of individual leaders – those who are elected to leadership. The trade unionism that we had in the 60s, 70s, 80s was for workers,” said Fr Luonde. “Today’s unions have lost it. They have gone to bed with the government. In short, they have surrendered their power to bargain for their members. What they now do is negotiate deals and political appointments for themselves from government. No wonder their members rebel against them. They have completely lost it. They are just trade union movements in name, not in performance. For today’s unions, whatever government says, their response is ‘yes bwana’.”