Sun, 03 Sep 2017 12:22:35 +0000
By OSCAR MALIPENGA
ZAMBIA for Empowerment and Development (ZED) has condemned police officers for allegedly brutalizing Lamasat employees for demonstrating over their low and delayed salaries.
ZED spokesperson Wesley Miyanda told the Sunday Nation that there was need to appreciate the fact that both local and international investors were in Zambia to create jobs and contribute to the national treasury through taxes.
But when contacted for a comment, police spokesperson Esther Katongo said she had no such information and referred all queries to Lusaka province commissioner Nelson Phiri who was also ignorant of the incident.
Meanwhile, efforts to get a comment from Lamasat International Zambia proved futile as their landline went answered after several attempts.
But Mr Miyanda has appealed to Lamasat to adhere to Zambian labour laws and ensure that they offer better conditions of service to their workers and pay salaries on time.
“If there are disputes between employees and employers then an amicable way should be applied to resolve the issues,” Mr Miyanda said.
He appealed to police officers not to abuse their powers by brutalizing innocent citizens who were just airing out their grievances.
“In this matter we see no need for our uniformed officers to reach the extent of beating up the workers and even grabbing phones from them, because now that became something else.
“The job of the officers is to harmonize the situation so that where there is confusion and misunderstanding they instill law and order in a professional manner,” he said.
