“I AM LOYAL TO MY COUNTRY!” – THE BOLD STATEMENT THAT GOT CHARLES MILUPI INSTANTLY FIRED IN 1983 Continued from yesterday: An excerpt from the book: Conversations with Memorable Personalities (2022), Pages 621 – 622. Charles Milupi: My effectiveness threatened some of the expatriates. So, one day in 1983, we had an issue that resulted […]

“I AM LOYAL TO MY COUNTRY!” – THE BOLD STATEMENT THAT GOT CHARLES MILUPI INSTANTLY FIRED IN 1983

Continued from yesterday:

An excerpt from the book: Conversations with Memorable Personalities (2022), Pages 621 – 622.

Charles Milupi: My effectiveness threatened some of the expatriates. So, one day in 1983, we had an issue that resulted in [General Manager] Arthur Davies terminating my employment.

Amos Malupenga: What was the issue?

Charles Milupi: It was a non-issue actually. One of the circuit breakers at one of our stations had blown up. And because we were in the area, we went there and began the process of restoring it.

This circuit breaker was in two parts, the electrical part which I was in charge of and the mechanical part which I was not in charge of. And what happened clearly was that the mechanical part had failed, so the head of the mechanical department had come and we had agreed on the process.

The one in charge of the mechanical part was a very hopeless person. Instead of working, he would be running all over the place. He wasn’t available, so I was handling everything. When he was available in the evening and was told about what happened, he said, ‘I want Milupi back to Luano.’ Luano was about 15 kilometres from where my house was in Chingola.

I said, ‘There is no issue now because the matter is under control; it’s not our issue, but the mechanical department.’ This man insisted that I needed to go to Luano, but I said, ‘I don’t work like that.’

The senior people took advantage of that and initiated disciplinary action which resulted in my dismissal. I remember the final dismissal was with the general manager Arthur Davies.

When I went to see him in the company of the personnel manager, Arthur Davies began to lecture to me about being loyal and so forth. All he wanted was for me to say, ‘I am sorry’ then he would have reinstated me. He said a lot of things and in the end he asked me if I had anything to say. At that stage I was just supposed to say, ‘Mr. Davies I am very sorry.’ But I said, ‘Mr. Davies, let me tell you that I am a very loyal person, but I am loyal to my country.’

That statement angered Mr. Davies. He said, ‘That’s it, you are fired, just go!’ That’s how I was fired. But that development created a furore in this country to the extent that it hit several headlines in the Times of Zambia. If you go into the archives and check the Times of Zambia of about July/August 1983, you will find these stories.

Arthur Davies was very close to KK [Dr. Kenneth Kaunda]. KK is the only person he
respected. After that he respected Francis Kaunda who was the chief executive of ZCCM and to some extent Joseph Chileshe who was the vice. Nobody else in the country mattered. But there was also a lot of resentment against Arthur Davies, including in Parliament at the time.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, Mr. Humphrey Mulemba who was then… Actually, I will tell you a very interesting story. Eventually, Frederick Chiluba who was chairman of Zambia Congress of Trade Unions got involved, although I was not a member of the union because I was in senior management. I remember going to see Chiluba at Atlas Copco. He wasn’t a very concentrating person so as I was talking to him, he picked up the phone and phoned President Kaunda.

But the response from there clearly indicated that he [KK] was already aware of the
situation from Arthur Davies’ angle. Chiluba didn’t get much reception from the president so he put down the phone. He picked up the phone again and phoned the then UNIP secretary general Humphrey Mulemba. Mr. Mulemba said he wanted to meet me. That meeting was organised and I drove to Freedom House. Mr. Mulemba was very receptive and sympathetic.

But I told him to be careful because it appeared the president was aware of these things. He said, ‘It doesn’t matter to me because I am looking at issues affecting Zambia and Zambians.’

So, the matter was left with him. The next I heard was senior people in ZCCM wanting to see me. Max Sichula who was then director of personnel was sent to see me. On the basis of that, it was decided that I be reinstated. This was now a month later in September.

But I was adamant. I said, ‘Look, everybody in the country knows that it was Arthur
Davies who was wrong’ so I am not going back to Copperbelt Power Company. But they said, ‘You have a brilliant career and we don’t want to be in conflict with that person, so we will take you to Kabwe division of ZCCM.’

Eventually, I agreed to move to Kabwe as an assistant head of department. [Hanson]
Sindowe was the head of electrical department so I was reporting to him. People like
[Rhodnie] Sisala were section engineers reporting to me.

Ok guys nangu tapasoswa, can’t you now pull up at any Bookworld Zambia outlet across the country, secure yourself a copy, and enjoy this intriguing conversation in full?

For those in the diaspora, simply swipe your card over on Amazon.com and have it delivered straight to your door. Don’t sleep on this one. It is a thriller of historical, social and political value. Each conversation in this book offers a rare glimpse into the pivotal events that coloured our national story as a country.

Enjoy!
Amos Malupenga
Author