Teachers condemn ZNUT
By NATION REPORTER SOME teachers in Southern Province have condemned the Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) for allegedly failing to adequately represent the interests of a Siavonga teacher who had a mental illness and passed away last week.
The teacher's union has come under attack from its members and other civil servants after it emerged that the union neglected or failed to protect the interests of the teacher despite being aware of his predicament.
Teachers spoken to by the Daily Nation wondered why the union failed to prevent the Ministry of General Education from removing Mr Nyondo from the payroll when there were other options available to deal with the issue.
One teacher who requested for anonymity warned other teachers to be careful when deciding which union to belong to because some unions were only interested in money which they got through membership fees. He charged that unionism in Zambia had become irrelevant because leaders were only interested in money contributed by members and not in safeguarding the interests and welfare of the members.
''The question is why was he removed from the payroll, who authorised his removal from the payroll and rendered him a homeless beggar and where was the union which used to deduct money from his salary?
''As teachers we devote all our time to work for these ’notorious’ children in schools but not even the head teacher who is the closest supervisor will acknowledge your effort. You will be blamed to the bone every day for simple mistakes, sometimes even denied permission to go to the bank to get your salary and when you die the head teacher or DEBS (District Education Board Secretary) will just say a few words and everything is over,’’ he lamented.
Mr Chrispine Nyondo, who was a teacher at Kariba Primary School in Siavonga and a member of ZNUT, was removed from the payroll after he suffered from a mental illness and survived on begging on the streets.
Before his death, the late teacher had complained that ZNUT had neglected and abandoned him despite being their member and suspected that someone within the Ministry of General Education was Benefitting from his salary