The Centre for Elections and Governance (CEG) has welcomed the decision by President Mwanawasa to recall Zambia’s Ambassador to Libya, Mbita Chilata.
CEG Trustee Gershom Musonda said in a statement today that Mr Chitala was appointed to nurture relations between the two countries and be supportive of ways the Zambian government was working with the rest of the continent and not to behave in an unprofessional manner.
Mr. Musonda said Mr. Chitala’s role was to do things in line with government policy and consult at all times when doing things, either official or private, but hinging on relations between Libya or the rest of Africa.
“We think his statement was aimed at making Libya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa appear to be more progressive in moving the African Union agenda. There was also an impression created that the rest of the leaders on the continent were either slow to move or were mere laggards who should be left behind for now,” he said.
He said if Mr. Chitala had consulted on the matter, he could have been advised to be diplomatic because he was an appointed agent by the Zambian people through the Head of State.
He reminded Mr. Chitala that achieving a United Africa cannot take four nations only as he proposes but that the process needs rigorous consultation and active involvement of stakeholders, because Zambia is a multi-party democracy.
“We do not want our country to be tied to international agreements anyhow because one person feels so. The idea of One Africa should be supported by all of us citizens and consider interests of our future children who will be there long after we are gone,” he added.
Mr. Musonda said the President was in order to recall Mr. Chitala and that this should be a warning to other diplomats who want to champion causes when they have no authority to do so.
He urged President Mwanawasa to continue screening the diplomatic service where some diplomats have taken it as an opportunity to do personal businesses.
He said Dr. Mwanawasa should also consider sending more younger officers in the diplomatic service who are energetic and eager to serve Zambia diligently.
Infact the push now is for the Administration to revert to the UNIP approach of sending personnel in the missions as Diplomats from the Offices adjacent to the MoF. If not, every mission must have one or two embedded staff from the Offices adjacent the MoF.The difference with the UNIP approach is that now the Zambian systems are more professional with abundance of highly educated young citizens.Politician belong to the political arena.Lets learn from the USA strategy that has a successful diplomatic cadre of analysts.
Whatever, chitala was a wrong full from start..mwanawasa failed from start to dismissal..diplomats shud be professionals not cadres..lpm brace 4 more disgrace as u hear your term end
And now it’s Chitala’s fault inonge lost! If I were him I would take this political capital they are handing him.
My dad bo Mbita was very wrong and he is partly responsible for bo Inonge’s loss. I am sure my dad bo Mbita has smell of Gaddaffi’s oil money on his hands and clothes.
Mbita what became of you Sir. Is it beause of the nchekelako from the Muamar Gaddafi of the Great Jamarihiya? Most probably.
AH! You goons can you leave the great son of African soil alone, he is a brave man. Turn the page and think throu’ his massege, for sure it is not palatable in the eyes of African plot one sitting tenants but it makes alot of sense for the Africa continent to move ahead. Bravo bo Mbitaaaaaaa!!!!
The views of chitala though sound noble they smell of a man who got oiled..Ba chitala, we can see thru you..You have just sold your soul again to pieces of silver.
chitala is a bloody traitor,not any different from judas.bo inonge look to the MMD presidency,hoping chitala will not org sum thugs for u the man is extremely dangerous.u will not enjoy that oil money mbita derrick….
Though most of you seem to support Levy on this issue, since when did Levy ask the nation about having United States of Africa(USA). Even this CEG thing is so myopic. Levy and others said they wanted to consult many years ago, how long does it take to ask people? Follow Chitala’s arguments and dont just support Levy blindly..sic!
CHIBAVU do you know what religious,social,and economic values these pioneers of the african union govt have…will they conflict with the values u currently have?Are u ready to be declared a moslem state if Gaddsffi says so?mind u we have just discovered gold ,diamond ,and possible oil deposits.i dont think we are ready to ditribute to union govt so soon.yes i agree lpm has come back to consult.maybe he we consult at the end of his term……u know how selfish politicians are.
if Derrick was as clever as we are lead to believe,he should have resigned his position before publishing such a thought provoking article.it is difficult to understand how his percieved intelligence allowed another sacking to appear on his already colourful cv.maybe being sacked was the plan from the outset ??
another “Young Turk” bites the dust !!quite a shame really as he is/was rather clued up on issues.Diplomacy has never been his forte and his posting in the service may well be percieved as another example of a misplacement of personnel!!
Was this the same Chitala who was fired by Kafupi together with Dean Mungomba for washing dirty lenny in public in Paris one time.
ba Easy(13), some people have dismissals littered all over their cv’s.one would think after being fired so often you would endeavour to be an employer the next time !!!
Let’s not judge Chitala as if he has committed a crime. The man simply expressed his personal views, which he should not have done as a diplomat. The dismissal was appropriate, but I do not think he will(should) cry about it, because what he said goes to the core of his conviction. I think he was naive, but respect him for his courage, unlike some on this forum who would prefer to keep the job rather than stand for their belief.
ba NEMESIS(15),some of us cannot afford to lose our jobs so we keep the thoughts that put our continued employment at risk, aside!! beliefs have lost their reputation at putting food on the table and clothes on our backs !!! Sunga umukoshi…ubulungu tabwayafya !!!
What we saw of Chitala are the “fruits” of making appointments in serious positions based on political affiliation. LPM saw Chitala walking in the streets and thought, he was one of the founders of the MMD, hence he needs to be sent to the foreign service. We have a number of ex civil servants be it teachers, accountants, administrators and so own, who deserve to be appointed to these positions but beacause of this stupidy in our political set up, you end up having shallow minded people as Ambassadors. Correct me if am mistaken, we saw LPM appoint the wife to late Mapushi (his nephew) in the foreign service,am not against this but does she have the knowledge and skills to perform work?
If Mbita is as intelligent as we were made to believe, then he should noticed that the “speedy” uniting of the whole Africa into one Country is not feasible at the moment. I believe he knows of the terrorism thats going on in Aljeria and those radical Islamists who bombing buses and buildings, can they accept a non Moslim to be their leader? If a Moslem was to be the President would he agree to rule Africa as a secular Country? How about the Islamic nations? Would they agree to lose their Identity as Islamic Nations. Rushing to Unite Africa in this manner would cause the continent to go up in flames. Mbita is not a “true son of Africa” as others have put it.
What chitala was echoing were Gadafi’s sentiments and frustrations. Mbita was sent to Libya to represent Zambia and not the Libyan president.
Those of you who saw today’s “Post” newspaper may have read the kind of threats Gadafi is making to African Leaders should they not agree to his Proposal. The man is desparate to rule Africa. He wants this to be done speedly so it can find him still alive to rule. Those threats, to me, indicate a selfish motive. If Mbita was a true “son of the soil” or patriot, he would have wanted to protect the continent from such leaders but, unfortunately, it seems their was some personal gain for him on this one and he went for it.
Mbita has sold his soul for six pieces of oil money from Gaddaffi. Is Mbita and his supporters prepared for Islamist bombers from Aljeria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Palestine once Africa becomes an Islamic state (continent)? This is Gaddafi’s, Iran’s and Osama Bin Laden’s goal. In Lusaka, our fire fighters and the roads are not good to take mass casualties to the hospitals on time. Ou hospitals are not prepared for many casualties. If the Arab league has failed to unit all Muslims, how can Mbita think Muslims and non muslims can be united under a secular prsesident? Just let go of your oil money mr Mbita
I wonder what explanation Derrick has for the ongoing massacre/genocide of black Africans in Darfour by the Arabic Sudan govt supported ARAB Janjaweed militia. I suppose he will blame it on western imperialism and not conflict/dominance/subjugation. Well there is an example of Afro- arab coexistence Derrick wishes to spread to the rest of africa. Darfour.
I have my own views here, at what point does a diplomat stop being one and assume his role as an individual. Is it because Chitala was in that position at the time that his article was published why he has been so criticised. I remembre just after the Accra summit, someone who was an observer wrote that if only africa could unite on the use of one language, as it no portuguese, french and english, agree that all the three languages would be adopted as official languages, then this would solve a lot of problems, because at the moment we can not even communicated among ourselves. If you have not been in this situation do not even comment. Do you honourable gentlemen really think the US of
The way forward is to draw our foreign missions staff from the professional and veteran intelligence officers specialized in Political science, Business and public/foreign policy fields. The USA draws 90% of its foreign service cadre from the State Department, NSA and the CIA rather than regular public service.Britain, Germany,Israel,Russia even Angola here do that
Africa is a plausible idea, are we ready to call ourselves african if we cannot call ourselves zambians witthout recourse to Tonga, Lozi, Bemba name it, this is a long call and I think that is where Mbita loses the plot, he wants this thing to be done yesterday without the social structures that could make it a reality and interestingly he makes reference to this when he says all one needs is political commitment which at the moment is lacking. The EU is a not a new phenomenon, it has been there from EC to EEC to EU so I guess if they did not start the EU would not have been even today and look at the benefits of the having one EU, countrie like Poland now are depending on funds raised by
their hardworking national doing jobs that people like the britis are now shunning. I can go on and on, but I guess opinions are just that OPINIONS!
the united states of africa politically is an impossibility but that should not stop us from forming a meaningful economic bloc/union!!the west has made sure Arab unity is an impossibility by creating and supporting Israel..they will never know peace!! one wonders what they will create to ensure Africa never unites economically !!!
All opinions here do not matter to Chital Mbita. What matters to him is that he is smilling all the way to the Arab banks where he has taken his bag of black gold money from Ghaddafi.
#27, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at who and how many are mandated to “take notice” of these internet opinions !!!
Seemingly good article by Gershom Musonda but, one can tell that it is all based on library newspaper cuttings. He did not make a single phone himself and neither did he consult any other Zambian. Please, just call Mwanawasa and ask for a diplomatic position. Do not go round the bush ba Musonda.
Anyway, thanks for your comment but, remember even Chama Chakomboka could have done better than this story telling.
I am curious to find out the manner in which you came across this information? I am absolutely intrigued.