PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda yesterday said people must not single out the Chinese and create phobia against them over the shooting of about 11 Zambians working for Chinese owned Collum Coal Mine.
And President Banda said it was cheap politics for Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata to claim that he Banda hated the late MMD Mpulungu parliamentarian Lameck Chibombamilimo, whom he said was his very close friend.
Answering questions from The Post at Lusaka International Airport for his departure for Mpulungu, where he is expected to campaign for MMD candidate Given Mung’omba in the by-elections set for next Monday, President Banda, however, said the Chinese who allegedly shot Zambian workers at Collum Coal Mine in Sinazongwe District, would face the law.
“I think lets be careful that we don’t single out people. Everyday people are shot by Zambians; are shot by white people; are shot by the Americans; they are shot by everybody. You know this business of Chinese! Chinese! It’s like you want to create a phobia against people. It’s obviously wrong,” President Banda said.
He said his government was taking definite positions and detained the two Chinese nationals.
“We have had discussions with the Chinese Ambassador, he too agrees with us and he has advised his people to follow the labour laws of the country,” President Banda said. “You know it’s not nice always, for me at least, it’s like to say the Bembas, or the Ngonis; you are like trying to incite people against a particular group of people and in this country, I want everybody to feel at home. If they make a mistake, they will face the wrath of the law. So, I don’t like what happened there and the law is taking its course.”
President Banda said foreign investors must follow Zambian labour laws.
“We too, as politicians, should not politicize labour issues. There are problems everyday. The country is growing. It means that a lot of investors are coming from everywhere. On the Copperbelt we have big investments, which are coming up, they are employing 10, 000, 15, 000 people. There has to be problems but they should be handled in accordance with the labour laws of the country,” President Banda said.
Two Chinese managers shot and injured about 11 workers at Collum Coal Mine last Friday.
Source: The Post Newspaper
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