President Rupiah Banda says the recent victory by Zambia’s celebrated female boxer Esther Phiri is a demonstration of the depth of talent among the youth in the country.President Banda has pledged 50 million Kwacha to Esther Phiri after her victory last Sunday.
President Banda said Phiri’s victory to win the vacant title in the light weight category is a demonstration of her continued hard work and determination.
The President said this when he hosted a luncheon in honor of Esther Phiri’s victory at State House today.
Banda has also urged sportsmen and women in the country to emulate Phiri’s determination and courage adding that she has demonstrated that sport is one of the areas that can help improve the well being of an individual.
He has since called upon companies to consider sponsoring amateur boxing and sportsmen and women in various sports disciplines to further develop sport in the country.
President Banda has also congratulated 2002 Commonwealth Gold medalist Kennedy Kanyanta who beat Kenya’s Wallace Mubiru at the same occasion in Nairobi.
He also expressed gratitude to National Milling Corporation who are the main sponsors and Exodus Stables Director Anthony Mwamba who is also Phiri’s trainer.
Banda has since assured the nation that his administration will continue being committed to the promotion of boxing and other sports disciplines in the country.
At the same occasion Banda presented a vehicle to Zambia National Soccer Team Assistant Coach George Lwandamina.
And speaking earlier Sports Minister Kenneth Chipungu said his ministry will continue to ensure that policies that promote sports in the country are upheld.
Chipungu observed that there is abundant talent among youths in the country which needs to be harnessed to promote growth in various sports disciplines.
He said government will also continue to ensure that the nation thrives in various sporting disciplines.
ENDS/CM/AM/ZANIS
good move edited
father xmas at it again! was the money budgeted for?
Waste of tax payer’s money!!!!
i hate this, i hate so much…can u put money to good use plz than spending it recklessly… So Mr president u cant see the economic crisis…..plz use yo economics even if u studied long time ago…..!!
Am happy withthe gesture evn though am not so much happy with the way the president has done.As far as i know today is the memorial of the failling heroes of the zambia nation soccer team.So i was expecting a speach frm him and if so to share the plans the state has for the families of the late guys.Rest in peace guys
Is the car for team use or is it a personal to holder? If personal to holder how about the head coach of the national team??
As for Esther, too bad the WIBF do not recognise her victory because of some selfish individuals…
Esther is a professional fighter with sponsors and earns money through her fights. Why should Govt. give her all that money for. I wonder how many Teachers that would pay or how many books,desks that would put in a school or how much medicine it would buy in a clinic. This is BS.
sHE DEserves it for putting Zambia on the map despite the controversy surrounding her fights those promoters are fighting because they all know that Esther is a good fighter so they are trying to make money of her.
was Kanyanta there as well??? Or it was only Esther at the malila? State house can do any thing.
Woman of substance , i agree with you! Its a shame that alot of money is being spent unwisely at the expense of other pressing matters…
I really have no issue with Esther, and all the controversy seem to point to her promoters, but I think this woman should have a conscious that should make her pause and tell the truth. She seem to be just ridding along with the lies her promoters have trapped her in. It is all over the internet that she fought somebody who was not a boxer ( 0-1-0 boxer) and anybody could have beaten that boxer. Going round getting rewards over that fight makes me raise some questions about her character. Recently in F1, Mclaren Mercedes lied about not allowing Toyota to overtake them during the race, and Lewis Hamilton being the champion he is apologized and the guy who forced him to lie has since been fired. Esther need to do the same if she is good as she thinks and demand a real fight to prove herself
The Sundays fiasco in Nairobi that saw Esther beat unrated Viparat Lasuwan was a GBC female lightweight crown and not WIBA.First of all the president of zambia has been cheated that the match was a WIBA,and secondly Esther was fighting a GBC crown match with a unrated contender,so now mr president why waist tax payers money over nothing,dont get exicited over nothing the only thing you are quick at doing is celebration,partying and international trips which have no significance for our country.When it comes to developmental issues you alwayz say you are only six months old in your position,our mines are closing,politcians are becoming more trick and cunning,graduates are graduating with no jobs,the end result is a bleeding ground for sophiscated criminals who can do a simulation before st
this guy never ceases to amaze me..lol. Does R. Banda have that money sitting in his bank account to just dish it out just like that? Definitely that money wasn’t coming from his personal account and its coming from a Government account, even after the budget is passed! Now the president should tell us which project has suffered at the expense of Esther. Am not saying we shouldn’t recognize sports men and women, we should simply do this in manner that is responsible. That K50 million is more than enough to sink two boreholes in a rural area for people to have clean water. Anyways our president is everything, accountant, lawyer, judge, policeman, etc we just need to change this current useless constitution, that gives the president so much powers!
before they steal.We gat more pressing issues My President,stay on your grind always,focus on the real dont forget all zambians look up to you.
# Is that BabyC or some imitators?
Thats nice, at least RB is doing something in sports
I hope that is not the tax payers money!!
Esther was already given a house by the late president and Nyama soya wants to give same person some money. Does it mean when ever she wins a fight she will be given some state funds in addition to what the sponsors are already paying her? Nyama soya is not living in the real world, he is very poor decision maker.
# 16 taking out cash and giving it to an individual has nothing to do with doing something for sports!! That money will be spent on some holidays with friends and relatives.
#12 i tottaly agree with you. to begin with the fight was a sham. somebody please tell me who the advisors of president RB are because this is RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! those promoters are scam bags and RB is playing along?
Waste of money
wow ! ok let me read first
This fight has been called a sham by the professional body responsible. Didn’t our Presdient hear that? The President should stop and reflect because I believe he has surrounded himself with advisors who want to see his downfall, otherwise how does one explain all this? It is increasingly becoming more and more difficult to understand his actions.
Very lucky chaps
ok today maybe the last day am blogging here coz LT may have to block me. Here I go…
F*** this donation
There I said and I feel good about it-phew!
Checkmate on this one RB.
No comment
She fights alone and there is nothing wrong with her getting a personal reward for her efforts. Afterall, when she wins, everybody is happy….just hope that the money is from RB’s private pocket. Robert Mugabe gave a Zimbabwean swimmer Kristy Coventry $100, 000 for minting silver during last years olympic games. And anyway, she has been winning for some time now!
That’s just an incentive to encourage her on.
This treatment is not good especially to others that have succedded in sports like the Nachula sisters (or is it brothers). Let this money go to that orphanage whose children wer sleeping on the ground on last weeks Pictures thread.
Esther is a prize fighter and thus is not entitled for funds from GRZ coffers. This is lack of judgement on the part of the president and his advisors. She has chosen this profession as a way of making a living, however, if the money is coming from RB’s pocket that’s fine.
That is exactly how Chiluba began with the brown envelopes! Dishing out our money left right and centre, making dubious donations of ambulances or school desks to carefully selected but equally dubious individuals, church organizations, schools, hospitals, clinics and chiefs willing to support his doomed third-term agenda and willing to lick his small matako! This is what is coming back in the name of Rupiah Banda!! Like his crony before him, his scheming is also doomed to failure and will only guarantee him a cell at Chimbokaila.
Remember, we know your salary!!
@ Ya Pamanzi. Nachula brothers huh? I also wonder…………. Only on LT!
Why? Where is the money coming from? Please let’s have some transparency on how resources are used.
RB suddenly is donating cash and vehicles. Please tell the people where is the money coming from?
This is really poor judgment. It is like US govt giving money to Mike Tyson or Oscar DeLahoya for winning a fight. What a stupid decision. Sorry supporters but this decision needs to be classified as such. She is a professional boxer and she is paid for her fights. Why hand her another check when she is just coming from getting another? We have street kids and organizations that need such money, what does this lack of ideas President do in the name of popularity seeking, gives money to a wrong person. And you his supporters, is your thinking the same? Well, this answers the question of why Zambia will continue to wallow in the swallow waters of mediocrity.
Stupid decisions and wise decisions is what separates poor nations from rich nations. I think you all know were our nation belongs. One definition of insanity is to believe you can keep doing what you’ve been doing and get different results. Our nation should be in the insane mode by keeping these retired politicians and thinking we can progress. Why spend money on a person whose career pays for whatever she does? Why hand her another check before she even cashes the one she grabbed in Nairobi? How many text books can K50 million buy for our colleges or UNZA in particular? That is 10 lecturers attending developmental conferences to benefit the future of our nation. What a shame and waste of resources? My only advise to Mr. Banda is to admit he is wrong.
Zambia will never develop. RB in his life time has never donated anything to anyone. Today as President, he is champion of donations. In fact to wrong people. Leadership determines the direction of the nation. Organization determines the potential of the nation. Personnel (Cabinet) determines the success of the nation. Zambia lacks the all three. Where to now? At least you guys can see the type of leader we have and the cabinet. Somehow Fr. Bwalya must be hailed as a hero for speaking out. HOW DOES GOVT PAY A PROFESSIONAL BOXER? The example of Zimbabwe awarding the swimmer for minting gold does not justify doing the same. The Olympic games are not for pay, but prestige. The girl was competing for free and her nation. Recorded as Zimbabwe winning gold and her flag raised on podium.
BADLY WRITTEN ARTICLE; REPITITION~BORING…….Dont we have better things to do with the tax payers money? shes already won so she must have gotten some money in her acount already? duhhhh..RB….wake up .helloo..luanshya…??
After all is said and done…congratulations Esther, proud of you..!
I wish he could have pledged that money towards the resettlement of the displaced people of Mazyopa who’ve been living in tents for the past two years or even make a donation to orphans or community schools rather than to Esther Phiri who won a controversial fight and is all ready making so much money.
#33 Walimona naiwe ka ? All the same it still makes no sense at all for someone who is making money in his/her private capacity gets pampered all the time with misplaced priorities in the form of cash. Mind you, UTH has got no panadol or disinfectants to maintain a good standard of health qualities. Afterall WIBA has questioned this fight and has not awarded her witha belt becoz the selection of the opponenet was fishy. Let Esther be put in the ring with Ali’s daughter, thats when such pampering can apply. Wapya mudzi !
It wont be long when this man will start moving with Govt money in his pocket like ka kafupi and slush funds.
Oh God our tax payers money is gone again. I appreciate what Esther did to mother Zambia but it doesnt mean that our money should be given to her. What about the poor people who are dying of hunger and those who are sick and cant afford to buy medcine? Esther has got everything. ala mulekwata uluse kunshushi bane.
Its good for Esther.But what about ,Kanyanta who picked some a gold medal.APELELA CHABE MULI KONGOLA CULE. Leadership inabakanga bamudala abaa.
SHREK really is a dullard, cant he see that there is a parallel between Esther & Mbesuma? Then he will soon be heard saying ‘Im the most ‘easily’ cheated president’ . Lobe
If Esther really cared she would have refused that money and asked that it goes to a hospital or school. What about all the youths that are excelling in school? What does boxing do in regards to putting food on the table. First it was Mugabe giving a briefcase full of dollars to a swimmer after the olympics, now its this guy giving this lady money for what?
Such stupidity!
Ba ESTHER Muchenje nesho indalama otherwise you will be consider as a newly joined plunder. We dont want to see you in manaingi trablou like F.T.J
How about also honoring Amon Simutowe, Black Africa’s only Grandmaster. That’s a title that will stick forever as long as the young man lives. Somebody help me please.
Esther, get your money and forget about people crying about who you have beaten even in football they are people who cry that ooh it was an off side. At least it has been given to Esther it could have gone in someone pocket anyway remember slash funds.Esther has put the nation among winners.Fact.
Presidential slush funds being put to “GOOD” use. LOL
Ba RB nibo bewula!!!!???I would like to know where that money is coming from lol??????