‘ STATE NOT BROKE’
…as alleged by UPND’s Cornelius Mweetwa
GOVERNMENT has rubbished allegations by UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa that the State is broke to pay lecturers at the University of Zambia (UNZA) and Copperbelt University (CBU).
In an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday, Higher Education public relations officer, Chiselwa Kawanda said the ministry was not the one responsible to pay the lecturers at UNZA but the management
Ms Kawanda was respond ing to a statement issued by Mr Mweetwa in which he claimed that UNZA and CBU impasse signalled a broke government.
She said it was UNZA management that paid the lecturers at the university and not the Ministry of Higher Education.
“I would advise that you phone UNZA management that are responsible for making the payments and not the Ministry of Higher Education,” she said.
She said that all stakeholders should understand that the management had the responsibility of such magnitude and the grant was just a supplement.
Mr Mweetwa, who is UPND Choma Central MP was quoted saying what was happening at the two higher learning institutions was indicative of a broke, clueless government that was governing by chance without a recovery plan. Mr Mweetwa said UPND president Hakainde Hichilema had warned of this crisis when the government was struggling to control its foreign borrowing. He also alleged that Zambia was struggling to meet its debt obligations, and those governing the country had no recovery plan.