adminThousands of youths gathered at an army first brigade recruitment centre in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, in the early hours of Wednesday to be recruited as soldiers, but most of them failed to get jobs, a move that infuriated them, according to the Times.
Lusaka Police Commanding Officer Charity Katanga said the irate youths threw stones at cars and blocked a main road at a junction of a railway line using various objects.
According to the police chief, the youths, who lit a bonfire, attributed their action to failure to be recruited in the process and accused army officials of only recruiting their relatives.
She said police had to use teargas canisters to quash the fracas but noted that there were no injuries or arrests. This is the second disturbance witnessed during an
army recruitment exercise after another disturbance was recorded in southern Zambia where hundreds of youths were left out and they accused army officials of nepotism. Zambian President Michael Sata is under pressure to fulfil the promise of providing more jobs he made in the run-up to last September’s elections.
In May, at least nine people died while six others were seriously injured after a stampede for casual jobs in northern Zambia’s Mpulungu district. But president Sata on Tuesday said his focus is to provide decent jobs for locals as opposed to casual employment. — Xinhua.
Online Reporter