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WORKERS’ Compensation Fund Control Board (WCFCB) chairperson, the veteran trade unionist Alec Chirwa, 74, has died.
Mr Chirwa’s younger brother, Chris, said in an interview that his brother died yesterday around 14:00 hours at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) after an illness.
“Mr Chirwa died today (yesterday) in the afternoon around 14:00 hours at University Teaching Hospital (UTH) at the age of 74,” Mr Chirwa said.
He said the funeral gathering is at Mr Chirwa’s house in Makeni behind the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall.
Mr Chirwa said his elder brother served as Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general and was a Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) founder member.
Mr Chirwa also served as chairperson of the Zambia Daily Mail collective bargaining unit (CBU).
Mr Chirwa said his late brother is survived by the wife Violet, eight children and a number of grandchildren.
And in a Facebook posting, former ZCTU president Leonard Hikaumba said: “It’s with grief and great sorrow to learn of the death of Mr Alec Chirwa. He served the labour movement over a considerable period of time”.
Mr Hikaumba said Mr Chirwa will be greatly remembered as one of the founder members of the Civil Servants Union of Zambia (now called the Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia).
“He was the first national chairman of CSUZ after its registration in 1976. He later exchanged positions with Mr Lewis Masumbu when he took up the position of general secretary,” Mr Hikaumba said.
He said Mr Chirwa was elected ZCTU secretary general in the early 90s – a position he held up to 1998 when he retired from the civil service.
“He was later appointed as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security during the presidency of the late Dr Frederick Chiluba,” he said.
