President Michael Sata has opposed the introduction of a US$10 tax on air tickets purchased by travellers leaving or entering the African continent as a measure to help fund the African Union-AU.
ZANIS reports from Addis Ababa that the air ticket tax was among the proposals contained in the progress report of the AU High-Level Panel on Alternative Sources of Funding, chaired by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo.
The air ticket levy was among the two proposals suggested by Mr Obasanjo’s panel during a meeting held in Addis Ababa today,
The second option suggested by the Obasanjo panel was to introduce a US$2 hospitality levy applicable on all hotel accommodations within Africa.
Discussing the progress report during a meeting today, President Sata said Zambia has overpaid her contribution towards the maintenance of the African Union and all other Organisations to which she is a member.
He noted that apart from the AU, Africa is still faced with a lot of problems ranging from poverty, girl child education and unemployment among others.
[pullquote]“If the AU is running short of money, let us know how much they want us to contribute, we will not let Zambians or outsiders be levied”, he explained.[/pullquote]
“ What we have to bear in mind is that apart from the AU, we have more problems in Africa, and these problems , yesterday we heard about people not going to school, poverty, problems of the girl child and when you are suggesting US$10, that is a lot of money because Africa still has a lot of problems of emancipation,” said President Sata.
He called on the AU to come up with ways to minimize expenditure for member countries by suggesting levies for particular programmes instead of levies on hotel accommodation and air tickets.
“ If the AU suggest a levy that they want us to pay for a particular programme we will pay, but not giving you levies because we are not going to levy anyone,” Mr Sata said.
He explained that Zambia is working towards promoting her tourism industry and that this will not be achieved if accommodation rates are hiked .
“ we would like to attract tourism in Zambia, if hotels become expensive, then some people are going to rise against us, the airlines are going to be less profitable,” the President explained.
President Sata said Zambia wants to encourage people doing business and attract more tourists to visit the country.
“If the AU is running short of money, let us know how much they want us to contribute, we will not let Zambians or outsiders be levied”, he explained.
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Muhammed Mossi of Egypt were some of the leaders present in the meeting who supported the stance taken by President Sata.
Other countries which supported were Algeria and Chad.
The executive council of the UN at its ordinary session in 2012 endorsed the proposal by the commission to support the consultations on the alternative sources of funding.
A high level panel of eminent people met with a view to engage member states and come up with definite proposals for the outstanding issue of funding.
ZANIS
The man has gone oppose every thing that AU is suggestions. why
@Demon….Big up to Sata….that’s whats up prez.Am sure the under 5 party is going to hold rallies and demos together UNZA,CBU & MU like they did it over maize and fuel subsidies over the Prez stance on air/hotel levy taxes. They are going to call it ” Black Friday” with black as dress code… They will says the money can help fund the by elections + PF millitias…Abash Obasanjoconomics, underfivoconomics,tonganyoconomics…
whoa!!,, i see whole pack of PF extremists out of the wood work,, getting one task right of 50 tacks does not a cut in my world,, besides can someone give numbers,,or percentages of zambians who regularly fly,,,and how many ordinary zambian would directly benefit from the airline tax cut, or,whatever it is
I think he has a point on this one; but why does it sound to me like delegates to this summit are just being ambushed with issues for discussion OR is it a reporting problem? Is our country not part of the commissions that deliberate on issues assigned to the various commissions? Why would we then come out and issue a statement that’s inconsistent with the final resolution of the summit?
Wanu Ngwee,Sata actually has NO POINT bcoz S.A,Australia & Thailand are far from tourist source mkts and air tickts and hotel rates in those places are far higher by a factor of way more than $10.Tell me why cheaper Zed has failed in tourism than those 3 places again?
Whoa! i see a whole pack of PF extremist out of the wood work!!..getting one task right out 50 failed tasks, in my world one does make a cut.. besides can someone give me those numbers of how many zambian regularly fly..and how many ordinary zambians on streets will directly benefit from the tax cut.?????
@Enka. Aussie and Thai are not levying their citizens to pay regional bodies they belong to. They are using the tax to develop their countries, not spending it on Summits that are mostly fruitless. On this one, yes, Sata has a point
Just [email protected] you make absolutely no sense.You & Sata are arguing taxes while i’m arguing affordability.So my point still valid.Thai & Aussie being further and thus costlier are able to attract tourists more than zed which is cheaper and closer.A tourist wud care more about an extra $200 tab for long distance airfare than a $10 tax to zed.So your point is moot bcoz tourism is built on attractiveness of sites more than a stale location in zed which is built on a mere attractiveness of being $10 cheaper.
Gi
Give the man credit. Air travel is expensive as it is for the average Zambian.
AU should find other means of raising funds.
THE IS THING IS EVERYTHING THE AU IS SUGGESTING IS FULL OF NONSENSE. THE CHAPS- YOUR LEADERS HAVE RUN OUT OF IDEAS. BY THE WAY IT LET’S OUT A HINT THAT AU IS BROKE- WHERE DOES THE MONEY MEMBER-COUNTRIES DONATE DISAPPEAR TO.
It appears our president attended this summit to oppose every suggestion…
Lack of vision. This really has served as a barometer of our leader, and national direction. Thinking of self all the time! He can’t see the big picture. Its the same at home, domestically, our President can’t see above clan loyalty, and party loyalty. They are there just for the benefit of their inner circle. And this is a disaster for the rest of us Zambians. Lack of vision..African vision. I stand to be proven wrong.
How can he support something like
– air-tickets when Zambia has no airline.
– War crimes to the ICC, when Zambians don’t slaughter each other like Kenyans?
– Same passport with Somalians or Nigerians, when Zambia is a decent christian nation, to share similar passports with criminals?
On this AU summit, I support Sata, Mugabe and Muhammed Mossi, all are oppositions to the western crap.
Nostradamus. Well put! I travel to Zambia once a month for work and spend a minimum of one week. This to me over time becomes expensive. If the US and other so called western powers will not send their own to the ICC then we shouldn’t. What makes them more special than us? Personally I’d rather die than share the same passport with a Nigerian.
Cobra Nabamupema ku AU…The man speak out his mind with confidence…thumbs up
And people want to crucify Sata on this too ? Am sure he could have been crucified regardless if he was for the idea too.How funny that is.
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??.??? ???????thank you very much.
Big up to Sata….that’s whats up prez.Am sure the under 5 party is going to hold rallies and demos together UNZA,CBU & MU like they did it over maize and fuel subsidies over the Prez stance on air/hotel levy taxes. They are going to call it ” Black Friday” with black as dress code… They will says the money can help fund the by elections + PF millitias…Abash Obasanjoconomics, underfivoconomics,tonganyoconomics…Abash Pa Mpoto ya finkubala….
Sata has gone to AU thinking he is still an opposition party leader…he does not know of any innovative methods of revenue collection or funding and just making senseless noise.
Do you suggest that we put $10 to each airticket in and out of Africa (Zambia)? And should we also increase the price of hotels in Zambia? Sometimes you shouldn’t just oppose sata for the sake of your hatred for him, think about what he has said. On this one, I think every level headed Zambia would support his stance.
I don’t harbour hatred towards anybody as I debate issues not personalties. What is $10 when you are paying $500- $1500 for a return air ticket and tourists are paying between $1000-$3500 for those safari packages. Are you honestly telling us they will be put off by a $10 levy? Where else are they going to visit there is only one Africa? Offer alternatives?
If Sata really wants to attract more visitors to Zambia he should do more on ground than paying lip service – remove street vendors, clean the filth our streets and invest in infrastructure.
Jay Jay,
When you come to think of it, a $10 rise amounts to something and in a competitive world, it could amount to loss of business. When people plan for their holidays, they do look at alternatives and possible ways of getting a service at a cheaper rate. I agree, we also need to redesign/refurbish our infrastructure but we cannot overprice ourselves before we do that.
TC
Zambia’s competitors in the tourism sector are also members of AU; remember its all flights into and out of AFRICA. If we are not competitive now, what makes think we will be less competitive when the surcharge is introduced?
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Oppose and offer proper alternatives.
Offer alternatives only if the AU means anything. They can, for example reduce their expenditure and hold less meetings.
Iwe Gundix criticise informedly and constructively: how many meetings does the AU hold? The AU is voluntary meaning if you don’t want it ship out. Some of you think its some mega organisation to point a finger at for all your problems. Members must go there with the attitude of utilising our own think tank for resolving our problems not to go there with this them and us attitude exhibited by Sata. He wants to treat it like some imperialist monster when he should know its history and objectives. How dissapointing too much Id and absent super ego.
Sata is the president of Zambians at heart. When he sees and feels that there is nothing that he is doing out there he will ask , why am I wasting taxpayers money? When he sees anything that will disadvantage Zambians he will oppose for all this,why is he blemed?
Very correct. Other countries have no tourism to talk about so they dont care but we do.
@Monk Sq analysis: you sound more like lumpenela analysis cos those monks I know from UNZA apply themselves to a problem much better. What tourism can Zambia speak of? Obasanjo’s country has 50 times more tourism than Zambia and he is the one suggesting the levy. Africans are known for blind loyalty. In this case you wanna be blindly loyal to Sata’s antics.
@Kwacha Resident-Ruinz 4freva, Exactly the point! Zambias tourism sector is not where it should be and it is small compared to countries like Kenya, South Africa etc. So increasing prices of flights into Zambia and hotel bills will not help our tourism hence the opposition by Sata on this proposal.
Why do you people just condemn for the sake ayi?
Already flights into Zambia and hotel fees are expensive due to high taxes we have, now you are telling sata to agree to increase the prices even higher than they already are. How do you expect to attract tourist like that?
@Kaponya dont take Kwacha Resident-Ruinz 4freva’s argument out of context. He is refuting Monk Sq Analysis’s claim that other countries have no tourism to talk about (and therefore thats why they are proposing this tax). Nigeria which is proposing this tax has a lot of tourism to protect and they havent seen this tax as something that will curb their tourism industry.
Besides some other blogger has answered your unfounded fear by telling you no genuine tourist will be deterred from visiting Africa because of a 10 dollar tax. The epeople who want to come all the way from Europe to see Africa are mostly big spenders. They are not Mtendere residents wanting to visit the UK
@Jay,jay nd yo like minded blats u re really lunatics. With u any ding from mcs is wrong. B ready 2 take dat u’ve sown. But yo approach does not break any bone especially now dat t is from cocroaches like u. It is dis kind of provocation we c’t take
to every action there is an opposite reaction of the same magnitude or larger magnitude. that is also applicable in international relations!
I jeered at the nuisance at which Sata conducted himself with, over bald heads at the AU 2 days ago. But I tend to agree with him on this one only that he should offer viable alternatives. The AU has a lot tasks on the continent that require finances like peace keeping. They are trying hard to raise funds independently within the AU than always begging from Europe and the US who attach strings and want to influence the direction of the organization. The President may be right but he must offer alternatives or else he may be misunderstood to want to throw his weight around by desiring to sabotage every programme AU wants to carry out. Otherwise thumbs up!
One cannot always offer viable alternatives if they do not exist. Sometimes suggestions die a natural death without alternative. For starters AU is useless it’s too big an ambition for Africa hence MCS is interested in policies/programmes that will benefit Zambia. Unfortunately Zambia is bigger than AU so are are other African countries. Zambia benefits more from SADC than AU. There you have it, there are no alternatives MCS should offer. If anything he should be bold enough to exit AU altogether.
GUnduzani to me he sounds like responding out of his self serving need for revenge: not for Zambia or africa’s interests.
What the Presido is doing even u including yo under 5 will benifit. We want 2 grow ur tourism industry which has lagged behind 4 too long; why should some1 come and impose dose levies? Dis approach @jay jay is dangerous .Suppose it is done 2 yo hh?
I was watching Muvi TV’s Assignment debate on YouTube between Muhabi and Sampa, this is how most of the viewers were sending in questions using text language. This is extreme laziness no excuse.
Foo.lish! Why grow our tourism sector if it doesn’t bring us more money. Our friends want to create an opportunity to make more money from tourists and your chi leader says no. Useless!
Good evening
Not that I would be supporting our president blindly but it seems to me that there are very few African leaders in the AU who have the courage to take the bull by the horns like our president. Are there are surely no other ways of raising funds for the AU than slapping levies on travellers?
Africa is too rich to be poor. Our gold, diamonds, copper and other resources have been leaving our continent for decades to help build American, European and Asian economies and yet we can’t come up with a better plan of retaining some of this material loss for the well-being of the entire continent?
I miss Gadaffi…
You are contradicting yourself there; AU is proposing raising funds from external sources as opposed to tax payers. AU is proposing innovative methods of raising funds which are sustainable. Sata should be challenging AU on how best to make use of those funds mind you regional flights will be excluded from this levy. Africans in Diaspora and foreign tourists will certainly not be discouraged from visiting and leaving the continent because of a $10 dollar surcharge.
You state that “Africa is too rich to be poor” yet you forget that Zambia itself is also too rich to be poor as the same Sata who you praise has lamentably failed to introduce Windfall tax he promised during the presidential campaigns for us to get a fair deal from our natural resources.
For once Sata is right to question, why not raise the funds through oil taxes? Simple answer the Oil producing countries including Nigeria knows that, it will affect their economy. Why should countries that have tourism suffer economically to foot the AU bill? Look at EU which is engulfed in difficulties due to imbalances of economical activities. The question we need to answer before joining the bandwagon is Zambia manufactures be able to compete in the Union, if it’s no then forget about it . Zambia if joins will be the next Greece even worse because they will be no one to bail her out. Kudos to Sata for standing up. Unions are not for consuming countries, only countries that manufacture do well. They are designed with a capitalist mind.
No nid of moderation of my comments,LT .Don’t b like zwd. @Gunduzani ,have u read de article?Anyway prejudice is like that,always focusing on de negative.Sata ,u are my President not traitors that are selling our country becoz dey hate u. Stooges!
Go back to pre-school and learn to spell words properly, you are not sending text messages to your friend. Let’s us discourage this laziness.
Vinambwela mochindwa
Ni “vinabwela mochedwa”: I thought Tim was trying to tell us to b e more thorough with our spellings Ala!
When organisations such as UN have failed the world, they talk about helping children in war zone boundaries, yet the most paid person is from UN. AU has failed even to take stoke of its responsibilities serve alone account for the monies. Is it there like any other NGO or has it got teath to bite, UN and AU same as EU are useless at this time even back time anyway. they are useless because of the value they have given to the people who expect it. AU is useless, depsite having so much written power the head pretends like for him to excute the AU power he needs money. what a fack. africa and african people are suffering, yet AU’s concentration is on such funding from the same poor people. AU leadership is stupid and useless, they have failed even to intervene in Nigeria
koma sata ashaina bad
Lets be reasonable with some of the points we raise, Mr President is right in opposing those suggestions, we can’t afford to increase air tickets and accommodation wen we re trying to improve our tourism sector. Surely there other ways the AU can raise money nd not to burden the already pool counties who re trying to improve the lives of its people
Then give alternative fundraising schemes instead of opposing issues if the levy is too high negotiate it… but do not just oppose that’s how things are done.
Jay Jay, i agree with you. it will be better to negotiate for a lower rate of the levy than an outright oppossion of the idea. The AU has to be strong financially if its to successful deal with the challenges that African countries face.You complain of western countries interference in internal african affairs yet you oppose ideas on how to empower the AU; so that it provide meanful intervenations in conflicts resolutions and bring rogue nations/leaders to justice.
Secondly, if we are saying the AU shud just tell us how much they need us to contribute and then we will do so. Now isn’t that contribute coming from the same zambian taxpayer’s money. So i think its even better to tax those who have enough discretionary income to travel overseas & get hotel accommodation.
How much money will be raised by Chad, CAF or Somalia? Zambia has already contributed too much in the Liberation of Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It is time to direct the meager resources to our people NOT feeding fat cats in ivory towers in Addis Ababa. Get a life OAU!
FYI Somalia is not a war-zone as the western media wants you to believe, some parts of that country are peaceful and thriving with regular flights. There are residential areas in England and Europe with the majority population being Somalis and these travel back and forth every two months home and wire more money than Zambians.
The Emperor’s clothes are very nice,only foolish people can’t see them.
Zambia is a member of the following international organisations:
1. COMESA
2. SADC
3 UN
4 Commonwealth
5 Non Aligned Movement
6 International Telecommunications Union
7 CITES
8 International Postal Union
and many more.
These organisations depend on member states contributions. Speaking for Zambia, the amounts for all subscriptions is huge and I tend to think we are fatigued with all these obligations. When a decision is made to expand the mandate of an institution, those making the proposal must identify funding sources. The AU budget needs to be revisited so that some programmes are dropped tp free up some funds for other more pressing needs. The resource envelope will never be sufficient. The point to note is most African states are in a poor financial position.
sata has always been good as an oposition leader.
yes,the president is correct on this one all those opposing needs to understand what it means to levy air tickets and hotel,what impact will it have on hospitality business? what about other organizations such as SADC,COMES, etc who is going to fund them? USD10 is alot money to take to AU alone think about how many flights we have a cross the continent per day,wake up Zambia.thumbs up Sata.
What our beloved president should understand is that no country is an Island and we all need each other in one way or another. Platforms like the AU provide him with an opportunity to network with other leaders for mutual benefit. The UN survives on contributions from member states and countries that make the biggest contributions like the USA have got a greater say as compared to those that contribute less. Diplomacy is what lacks in MCS and I doubt if he will ever change. It also looks like those around him are afraid to tell him to tone down for fear of loosing their jobs. Maybe the best thing is to ask someone to do a profile on him in order to help us understand him i.e. where did he go to school, who were his class or college mates, how far did he go in his education e.t.c.
Shaka. Please tell me what benefit Zambians will benefit from:
-Having the same passport as Nigerians and Somalians
-Paying an extra $10 per flight plus an extra $2 for accommodation which goes to fund some chaps in Ethiopia who could not even resolve the conflict in Mali. I am a frequent flier to Zed so I know where am coming from.
Sata is very right on this issues. As a matter of interest Shaka, what tourist attractions are in Nigeria? I for one would never be caught dead in that country.
I support our President
Zambian interests first, that’s a way a President should handle issues at these organisations! Zambia as country should concentrate on economical unions like SADC or COMESA, at least in these it benefits from the expanded market for its goods. AU is a waste of time, it is not even recognised by UN. Africa is too big and the countries are too many, it should be replaced with 2 organisations. The countries south of equator should form their own organisation and set its mandate. The AU has no mandate, it cannot even sanction its members for bad governance, it glorifies despots. Sata has done well to oppose these suggestions aimed at damaging tourism. Organised crime and terrorism is on the rise in Africa, the one passport idea will make it difficult to track and eliminate these criminals.
Typical Africans blindly supporting Sata for what , he just been a negative force there,
With no positive contributions, surely can a $10 fee deter a muzungu from touring, if he or she is that cheap they can stay put no need for cheap tourists. Besides the tourists will be even more understanding when they know what the fee is for. No institution exists without funding
Spot on…say no more!!
Sata’s argument is flawed.If the levy is charged then hotels will become uniformly expensive and therefore the AU fee contribution will be mainly borne by the tourist heavyweights of S.A, Kenya & Egypt.If zed is attracting less tourists now it will never attract more without this levy.If $10 cost was the biggest hinderance in attracting tourists then far flung nations furthest from source mkts of North America & Europe like S.A ,Australia & Thailand would have less tourism coz air tickets & hotel rates are actually far higher than zed by more than $10.
Exactly….the president is incapable of brainstorming issues he is stuck in the past, its either he opposes or agrees and will not meet you halfway.
That’s what happens when you don’t travel like EnkA and Jay Jay. You start thinking that these are small amounts. Here is an example even you two numpties may be able to understand: BA has 3 flights from London to Lusaka every week. Now imagine each flight has 100 passengers. How much is the AU making per week. Multiply that by the number of International flight to Zambia per week. Now imagine how much these chaps would be making per week across the continent for just sitting and doing nothing.
am with the presdo on this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What kind of thinking is this that Zambia’s tourism should pay for AU expenses. What is the benefit or connection?Do you think the commonwealth conference would have come up with such an absurd fund raising venture? This speaks volumes about the mediocrity of African leaders. By the way, what is this AU thing doing for Africa? The Somalians and Congolese have been butchering each other for decades. It took the French and the British to oust the rebels in sierra Leon and Mali. Where was the AU when the west murdered Gadaffi ? The AU to me is useless and a worst of money and not even worth belonging to. This is just as comical as the proposed AU passports.
Those foreign armies help out because AU is ill-equipped and poorly funded; keeping the peace is not cheap. Please stop contradicting yourselves and put on your thinking caps.
What has the AU done for you lately? Kill the AU.
Sata once said: ‘I would like to thank my mother, my father and my parents for raising me this way…… then you know there is no compromise in a guy raised like that. lol!
Organisations like IMF, UN are funded by member subscriptions. Now imagine leaders in the AU can’t even solve simple problems like that how do you think they will solve problems in war – tone countries on the continent. They need to do better than what they are doing. They should be funded like other organisations are funded by member subscriptions and they should not worry about how members raise their money to subscribe. AU needs to be seen doing something on the continent. They need to have free travel agreements starting with countries that are more democratically stable and expand that gradually based on how countries will be resolving their democracy and human rights issues. This will force countries to sort their own issues because they will want benefits others are getting.
Anyone knows what this means – Your comment is awaiting moderation. This is what I got when I put my comment about half an hour ago.
Quantum…. it means you let rip with your mouth! Check your text and remove offending words and try again.
Cofused.com if you ever read anything I wrote you would know I never write anything offensive
YES COBRA, SHOW THEM. MOST AFRICAN COUNTRIES ARE JUST LAZY. AU CAN RAISE FUNDS THROUGH OTHER MEANS. WHY RAISE FUNDS ON TRAVELERS EXPENSES?? “OBASANJO’s PANEL”?? TYPICAL WEST AFRICAN THEY WANT TO STEAL FROM EVERYTHING. THAT’S WHY THEIR COUNTRIES ARE SO CORRUPT. IN THEIR AIRPORTS CUSTOMS STAFF WOULD ALWAYS CLAIM FOR TIPS. TELLING TRAVELERS ” ONE PAGE IS MISSING OoooH” To MEAN CASH???
IMF, World bank are funded by member subscriptions but AU can’t even sort that out shows why they can’t resolve conflicts in war-tone countries. AU should just get member countries to subscribe and not worry about how member countries raise the money. AU needs to be doing more than it is currently doing before people can have confidence in it. They need to have free travel agreements starting with countries that are more democratically stable and get other countries to be part of the free travel agreements after they have sorted out their democracy and human rights issues. This will force countries to become better as they will want benefits that will come from free travel and other benefits other countries will enjoy. Close to what I wrote, not word for word. AU needs to do better.
aprt frm Sata & hs suporters at AU, wat hs com out of ths metng, espcly suggestns r a clear indctn these leaders r unable 2 thnk prperly. Plz Mr. Sata thnk u so vry mch 4 putng some sence n these pipo
What is Sata’s point here? Does he want to attract tourists because hotels and flights here will be $10 cheaper? What on earth is $10 dollars to a serious tourist? Our president wants to “feel pity” for rich tourists when prices are skyrocketing in his own country? By the way just his recent decisions will even beat that ka $10. I can only support him if he had the balls to get even 15% worth of taxes from mineral loyalty. Honestly the current 6% is a joke where on earth is the 94% if not in the pockets of the same people he wants to protect from a $10? Twila supporter fye kwati twaice. Ba president has a duty to build infrastructure that is competitive enough these dirty streets ridden with women selling delele won’t do even if our hotels were $100 dollars cheaper than South Africa…
You guys want Sata to be a “YES” bwana !! He is not !!! you will be the same people opposing him if he said yes to the same issue. we are just there to condemn, what a shame !!!
Only stooges like HH and Sakwila can support such nosense from Obasanjo’s proposal. @jay,jay and your fellow morons if u have read thru wat our dear presido has said, he offered altenaltives.Yo lunacy makes u not see reason. BUYANGA, MUBWA !
Yo main reason of supporting Au’s stupid proposals is u dink dey’ll come & support u. f.o.o.ls. U cannot differantiant between objectivity and utter idiocy. Slow down b 4 u kill yourselves 4 it is pf o the way -20years. Where will b yo hh or Nevr?
Damone, I have never heard you question why UPND and its Internet-based supporters such as yourself are forever opposed to whatever Sata and PF prose or do. Just because Nigeria suggests something does not make it right, bro. Grow a pair and believe in yourself before you can believe in others, dude.
Vigil Citizen you are a disgrace. What makes you think tourists are rich, you simpleton? If you don’t think $10 is worth anything why are you morons complaining about the removal of subsidies? You comfortable hiding your a.s.s in the Netherlands tossing crap at decent people trying to improve the lives of their people. You ought to be ashamed.
AU is an organization that has become irrelevant in today’s world and hence the pathetic attempts at clutching at straws by many of its corrupt leaders in a vain attempt to try and remain relevant. Of all the problems afflicting the continent which these leaders have shown such impotence to resolve, introducing hotel and airline tickets has to rank among one if the most ridiculous, stupidest proposal that more than 100 heads of state no less must come up with at the end is a heads of state summit! Bravo Sata for telling it like it is.