By Chinoyi Chipulu
Transport and logistics minister Frank Tayali says the government will escalate the security and safety challenges facing truck drivers in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), through President Hakainde Hichilema.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday, Tayali said truck drivers who travelled long distances through treacherous terrains to deliver goods and supplies to the DRC, had been enduring immense hardships for a long time.
Last week, Daily Revelation got in touch with Tayali to inquire what the government was doing to protect Zambian truck drivers who had continued to cry foul over the harassment and attacks from the Congolese nationals.
In response, Tayali said he would convene an emergency meeting with other relevant ministries to discuss what should be done to curb the attacks.
Yesterday, Tayali called officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and Trade and Foreign Affairs to try and find a solution to these challenges. He said the government had on many occasions engaged their DRC counterparts at various levels to guarantee security for truckers in their country, but it appeared the security continued to deteriorate unabated.
He said in exercise of the economic diplomacy, the ministries would escalate the issue to his colleagues .
“From here, I’m going to report to the President that the decision we have made is to ask him on behalf of the Zambian people that he can take this to his colleagues at SADC. We do understand that there’s a troika SADC meeting this Thursday so my officers will work very quickly to put the issues together,” he said. “And that through the Presidency, he will obviously be able to speak to other colleagues from Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa, that perhaps they can speak with one voice on the urgent need for this matter to be resolved.”
Tayali said truckers were faced with obstacles that not only jeopardised their safety but also threatened the efficiency of the supply chain, which was vital to both the Zambian and DRC economies.
“We are concerned about the plight of our citizens who play a crucial role in the movement of goods and cargo across our country Zambia and within the SADC region,” he said.
Tayali also said there had been reports of physical attacks on drivers, shootings and random roadblocks, where drivers were threatened and forced to pay illegal fees.
“We feel because we are dealing with a friendly sovereign nation, our jurisdiction ends within the confines of our borders and as the President continues to stress, ours will always be economic diplomacy,” said Tayali.
