Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation Director General Richard Mwanza has fired human resource director Zebina Kaonga for refusing to sign dismissal and transfer letters for employees whom he was not in good standing with.

According to ZNBC employees, among those who were on the list for transfers were cameramen Chomba Yumbe and Tom Njobvu from Lusaka to Livingstone.

But the Zambia Union of Broadcasters and Other Information Disseminators and the National Union for Communication Workers have reacted angrily to the dismissal, saying it is a recipe for disunity.

In a statement jointly issued by ZUBID general secretary Andrew Mpandamwike and NUCW national trustee Mercy Banda, Mwanza wanted to put a stooge in that position.

“We the Zambia Union of Broadcasters and Other Information Disseminators (ZUBID) and National Union for Communication Workers (NUCW) are aggrieved by the Director General’s decision to termination the contract for director of human resource Mrs Zebina Kaonga. Our DHR was fired for refusing to wrongfully transfer and fire members of staff whom the DG is not in good standing with. We perceive this action to be a recipe for industrial disunity at our institution,” read the statement.

“We therefore condemn the dismissal of DHR in the strongest possible terms. We are aware that the DG wants to put a stooge in this position that he can easily manipulate. As concerned stake holders, we shall not allow this diabolic scheme to be perpetrated by the DG Richard Musapenda Mwanza.”

Recently, a Copperbelt ZNBC staffer Misheck Moyo was fired for attending a church service with newly formed National Democratic Congress members.