By JOHN KOMBE
THE National Union of Public and Private Educators of Zambia (NUPPEZ) has appealed to the government to engage the trade unions on the way forward on the debt swap agreement, stating that civil servants were highly indebted and need help.
NUPPEZ Director of Communications, Jacklyn Chimwanga made the call during a press briefing at the union’s secretariat in Lusaka yesterday.
She also conveyed the union’s congratulations to President-elect, Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND for emerging victorious in the just ended general elections.
Ms Chimwanga noted that the civil servants were highly indebted thereby negatively affecting productivity.
She said that it was for this reason that the previous government sought to offer a solution through the debt swap and restructuring of debt.
She therefore pleaded with the incoming government to consider their plight. She said that the trade unions were ready to dialogue with the government on the matter.
“As you settle down your excellency, we stand ready to dialogue with your government to get guidance on how best this can be done,” Ms Chimwanga pleaded.
She was happy to note that the President-elect had promised to ensure that promotions were based on merit. She said that this has been a thorny issue which if addressed would go a long way in enhancing performance in the public sector. She said that those who deserved promotions had been sidelined in preference for cadres.
Ms Chimwanga also observed that the first address of the President-elect was motivating and that his pronouncements on the promotion of peace and unity were gratifying. She also pointed out that the call for the promotion of professionalism as opposed to cadrelism was also commendable.
She assured the NUPPEZ membership that the union would engage the government on issues such as automatic salary upgrades, normalisation of pay-points, proper administration of payment of various allowances and the sustainability of the debt swap.
