• The affected workers have been disadvantaged.
• Public Sector Trade Unions and Government mutually agreed to implement the Debt Swap.
• Government must urgently call for a meeting to address the matter.

Zambia Union of Nurse Organization (ZUNO) says it does not support government’s move to suspend the debt swap initiative without providing direction and consulting Public Sector Trade Unions.
Union General Secretary Fray Michelo told Money FM News that although Unions in the health sector, which include ZUNO, have never demanded for the debt swap, the program would have been a quicker way to dismantling the huge staff debt that Government owes its members.
Mr. Michelo noted that the affected workers have been disadvantaged and left at the cross roads without a clear direction to take.
“ZUNO has expressed disappointment with Governments’ lack of a clear position and way forward on the debt swap following the Vice President, Mrs. Mutale Nalumango’s announcement in Parliament last week that Government had suspended the program for reassessment.”
“While ZUNO appreciates the re-assessment of the program by Government, we do not support the suspension of the program without Government providing direction and consulting with the Public Sector Trade Unions,” Mr. Michelo said.
He stated that Public Sector Trade Unions and Government mutually agreed to implement the Debt Swap and Debt Restructuring Schemes in respect of civil servants to address the over indebtedness among workers and dismantle the huge staff debt owed by Government in accordance with the Industrial and Labour Relations Act Cap 269 of the laws of Zambia.
Mr. Michelo urged Government to urgently call for a meeting to address the matter.
“Payment of the staff debt that include; Leave travel benefits, Settling-in Allowance, Salary Arrears, Meal allowances, Out-of-pocket and Subsistence allowances, transport refunds and Acting allowances, have been accruing and pending for years.”
“We in the health sector would not want the New Dawn Government to be perceived as undoing what was perceived good but rather improve on such as we do not want to have demotivated nurses and midwives who would compromise the health of the innocent citizens,” he added.
On Friday last week, Vice President Mutale Nalumango confirmed that government has suspended the debt swap initiative which was introduced by the previous administration in July this year.
Speaking in Parliament during the Vice President’s question and answer session, Mrs. Nalumango said the program has been suspended in order for government to review it and see if it is possible to go on with the initiative so that it is well structured.
In July 2021, the Patriotic Front government commenced the process of debt swap across the civil service, after a collective agreement on the implementation of the initiative between Government and the Public Sector Unions.