WE’LL BOYCOTT DRC
…Truckers threaten permanent snub over murders
By Thandizo Banda
THE International Transport Workers Federation ( ITF) Zambian Chapter has threatened to “permanently” boycott the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) routes if the country fails to provide safety and protection to Zambian truck drivers.
ITF Zambian Chapter president Nathan Zulu urged the Zambian government to seriously engage its DRC counterpart on the need to end the merciless attacks on and murder of Zambian truckers.
In an interview with The Mast, Zulu appealed to government to find lasting mechanisms to the worrisome trend.
“We cannot continue to sit back as a country and allow our fellow countrymen to be brutally murdered in cold blood and robbed at will. We call upon our Zambian government to put in mechanisms to protect our truck drivers by seriously engaging the DRC. This is no longer an issue of silent diplomacy but a visible problem that needs a visible solution,” he said.
Zulu noted that Zambian drivers were being killed and continued to be in danger yet they were productive citizens with families to fend for.
“If the DRC cannot provide safety and protection to our truck drivers, we will have no other option but boycott the DRC routes. We further call upon the ITF worldwide to strongly stand with us and call for a stop to these barbaric attacks. What is regional trade without safety and respect for human life? These murders and maiming of our members have been going for a long time, and it is time the government of DRC took responsibility and are accountable for these heinous deaths,” he said.
Zulu who is also president of the Railway Workers Union of Zambia (RWUZ) appealed to the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions,the Federation of Free Trade Unions in Zambia, the Zambia Federation of Employers and Ministry of Labour and Social Security to aggressively continue to foster and advocate respect of workers’ rights.
“We want to voice our concerns over the anti-union tendencies especially from foreign investors who utilise practices such as employing people on casual or contract basis to avoid long-term obligations and suppress union activity. We want to warn that we shall name and shame such employers in 2026,” Zulu said.
Cross country drivers have been victims of brutal attacks in the DRC with defence and security forces implicated in some of the incidents.
In the last two weeks, a Zimbabwean truck driver has been abducted and murdered while a Zambian driver narrowly escaped death after he was abducted, tortured and robbed by bandits.
