Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba says President Edgar Lungu is diplomat number one and there are trips that he cannot delegate to anyone because of their nature.
Mr Kalaba said Presidential trips had opened up Zambia to the international community describing them as beneficial.
He said there were two types of engagements that the President undertakes which were bilateral called by fellow Presidents and he cannot delegate his Foreign Affairs minister or foreign diplomats to attend.
“It would have been absurd for instance for the President to delegate the minister of Foreign Affairs to go and attend to President John Magufuli of Tanzania when his colleague wanted him, same applies to South Africa,” he said.
Mr Kalaba said in the same manner the President could not delegate for the Southern African Development Community and African Union summits.
He said other engagements were those of international or multilateral nature where the President was required to attend and cannot delegate a minister to go and engage with heads of States because he had to go a make a case for Zambia.
Mr Kalaba wondered as to what some sections of society imply when they say Zambia should interact with the international community and yet they do not want President Lungu to travel.
“You need to have a good relation with other countries for them to support you and you have to in good books with others through interaction,” he said.
The Foreign Affairs Minister also said currently Zambia was campaigning with other African countries for the two positions where it is fielding two candidates at the upcoming January, 2017, AU elective summit
These are Dr Austin Sichinga, a former Special Assistant to the President for Economics during President Rupiah Banda’s Presidency and Ambassador Albert Muchanga the current Permanent Secretary in the Vice President’s office.
“These two positions we are counting on our friends with whom we have built good relations,” he says.
He also said Zambia was going to host an African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council and President Lungu will have to host the summit and cannot delegate.
Mr Kalaba was speaking on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation’s Kwacha Good Morning Zambia yesterday on the importance of Presidential trips.
He also said his ministry has a very good rapport with the media and has an open door policy that promotes interaction on various fora.
Edgar Lungu is tourist president number one.
So where is he going for the remaining 3 more trips in December? Lungu just wants recognition as a legitimately elected President. That’s all. Plus the allowances, of course.
Reminds me how KK became fixated on being an international statesman while his nation were looking at his domestic policies with horror. Then there was another who gained more air miles and cash in the bank from selling national interests to the highest bidders in back room deals. ED2.0 wil never be KK but I think he can be RB2.0 with ease.
If he wants to be diplomat number one, then let him be diplomat number one; and relinquish the presidency. He can’t be both.
DIPLOMAT No1 my foot – ECL’s Trips are extremely annoying.
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ECL has 4 years to deliver, any projects in year five will be regarded as vote buying projects. Ooooooh please! Behold Zambians cannot be fooled. HH could just as well scoop 2021 if you don’t put your acts together. The dynamics in the UPND camp and the voting pattern don’t shift at all, at all. Don’t say I did not warn you.
It seems Kalaba has some cut out of the president’s trip. See your ministry should not personalize the president by way of luring him into numerous trips. How I wish it was the Ministry of Home affairs or any other local sector bound ministry dragging the president so he could open his eyes to the suffering of the Zambian people.
DIPLOMAT number 1 my foot – ECL’s unreasonable Trips are extremely annoying.
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ECL has 4 years to deliver, any projects in year five will be regarded as vote buying projects. Ooooh please! Behold Zambians cannot be f.ooled. HH could just as well scoop 2021 if you don’t put your acts together. The dynamics in the UPND camp and the voting pattern don’t shift at all, at all. Don’t say I did not warn you.
It seems Kalaba has some cut out of the president’s trip. See your ministry should not personalize the president by way of luring him into numerous trips. How I wish it was the Ministry of Home affairs or any other local sector bound ministry dragging the president so he could open his eyes to the suffering of the Zambian people.
It simply goes to show the caliber of leadership we have; always justifying useless issues instead of progressive policy annoucements.
Myopic shamobolic leadership!
I thought diplomat number one was Emmanuel mwamba in RSA who is giving awards to zambians allover the world and making news all the time. As for Edgar I think he is a tourist
This ka Kalaba is speaking from his pocket. He is also just interested in the allowances he makes when he is with ECL outside the country. That’s why Zambia can’t develop. These chaps have no national interest at all.
Kalaba ask Kambwili where protecting Lungu got him!
The biggest motivation is allowances plus not knowing what to do while in zambia.
Kalaba is claiming his job back.
Kikiki to tohell with you evil chimps who don’t care for poor Zambians. Meanwhile please nominate me as best blogger. Please vote me to redeem your wrong decision of voting in the pf or rather them stealing the election. Vasco da gama is now your president Kikiki
Interesting view point but slightly skewed. He is the top guy indeed. That also means he should be top when it comes to national interest. Transparently lay out your itinerary so the nation can debate those interests because so far none of them seem as important as your DOMESTIC failures. By the way HOSTING a HOME GROUND event is NOT a DIPLOMATIC remit.
Why are other Presidents not coming to Zambia?
They are too busy for 3 day holidays…you think the Corrupt Zuma would leave his many wives to come to Zambia for 3 day tour…what are you going to show him? Shoprite shops in Lusaka?
They are afraid of contagion by association. It is safer entertaining a crook on your home turf, than his .
Article made me remember animal farm, two legs good, four legs better! Simply put, life is a circus. A wrong can be justified as long as it about someone who is more equal than the others!
When you see this Dwarf Kalaba come out like this, just know that they are lining up another flight for a 3 day tour soon….its funny that in all his justification of Lazy Lungu’s trip he has completely forgotten about the Vice President who was also elected as a running mate; they only see her as a token too frail travel and when she travels its normally Gender related issues which at the bottom of Lazy Lungu’s agenda.
My question to this Dwarf is, since he has brought in President John Magufuli – how is it that President Magufuli managed not to travel for among two years. Why is it that its Lazy Lungu who is wanted and not the other way round; they all know he is a incompetent shiftless, work-shy Bum who has nothing to do but drink and dance all day outside his office.
*….he is an incompetent…
When people come to you then you are in the driving seat. Seems little ED2.0 is in the beggar’s carriage trying to be relevant by eking out back room deals where he can make some coin. I think someone showed him the view from their mountain top and now he is hungry for a view of his own, forgetting everyone sees how you get there and it can be a hard fall when the volcano erupts beneath that dormant pile of crap you foolishly bought in to in search of ‘greatness’.
Next stage is rent-a-prez. Watch him jump when he gets offered that ‘role’ next year dumbly unable to see he will be the fall guy but happy to milk that cow all the way to the dirty bank.
Vote Mr Kudos 2016 Most Influential blogger on LT.
My President, we who are your hardcore staunch supporters are asking you to go slow with these foreign trips. One reason we kicked out RB was because of his stubbornness and wasteful, playful nature.
Please listen to us One ECL, because 2021 won’t be funny. Kaponya (HH) is making inroads into our strongholds. He’s even infiltrated the High Court premises with his filthy stone throwing Dundumwezi scoundrels. He has managed to bribe Siavwapa and other cheap crook judges.
This Hanimal Husbandry (HH) can steal our victory in 2021.
You have no victory to be stolen, you crooks. Mungeni, Anne Mwewa and Mulonda at the Kangaroo Court are sticking on Lungu’s d!ck. The judiciary is stuffed with turncoats and crooks, all singing for Lungu. You will only get kicked out when 100% of the country votes against you and that day is coming soon.
Your Excellency, President ECL we only have 4 years remaining. Don’t be blinded by those surrounding you. As you can clearly see from us foot soldiers on the ground many people have expressed displeasure at your failure to face reality at home – You inherited a wasted, crippled economy and those foreign trips cannot make it better in the short or long term.
We voted for you because we had confidence that only you could lift us out of this economic mess.
A Lungu we are watching you. 2021 is coming but it’s up to you to listen to the people. Ignore our voices at your own peril.
2016 vote Mr Kudos Most influential blogger on LT
@6.0 You spew crap about HH and in the same breath @6.2 you go on to attack your “hero” the incompetent traveler Lungu.
Something very weird about you!! See how embarrassing it is to be a staunch senseless cadre!
You are absolutely right!
Buck Teeth,
Dream on!!!!
Here is a president who can afford to delegate everything else here at home and govern by way of remote control; but can’t afford to delegate a single foreign trip. How atrocious! It’s mind benumbing. Is he firstly a president or firstly a diplomat? If he is firstly a president, then the Zambian people expect him firstly to govern, and not firstly to be a diplomat. Let him firstly delegate most diplomatic trips to others. He must not firstly delegate the governing of the country under the pretext that he is diplomat number one. There are trips he has undertaken, which he could not reasonably have afforded to undertake. If he wants to be a diplomat, let him be a diplomat. Zambia is in dire need of good diplomats, such as what Edgar Lungu seemingly aspires to be. Just in case you are…
Continued:
Just in case you are in doubt, ask Vernon Mwaanga, who was a career diplomat about this.
Well said
I am PF but to have our President have 6 foreign trips in one month is unheard of. If that brings development then we could have seen all heads of state do that. I can guarantee you, that no head of state has and is currently visiting 6 foreign states in one month
I think our Foreign Affairs Minister has outlived his usefulness. Edgar Lungu has moved from country to country. Have we seen any improvements to our lives? Guys, we can’t continue fooling ourselves. Neither PF nor UPND has solutions to our challenges but let us have some common sense at least
20 foreign trips or more we will remain where we are. You were told after the saudi trip that fuel would be K5 per litre. In case you have just dropped off the bus, it went to K13. Lamentable failure
And what did he promise on his trip to France and Italy…a useless foreign French channel and Airbus aircrafts.
He goes to discuss energy issues in RSA without Zesco Directors…these trips are simply unnecessary.
Unprecedented 20 foreign trips in less than 5 months. What is Kalaba talking about? The next time ECL comes back from his foreign trip, he will tell us to stop farming because there is enough food to import from his visited foreign land. Umwana ashenda ai?
Thorn in the Flesh your objectivity deserves many thumbs up. Kudos!
The primary duty of a president is to govern, not to be a diplomat. Lungu has it the other way round.
And diplomacy is not part of governing?
@ One Zambia
Governing? Who? Lungu? PF?
Diplomacy? Which diplomacy? Do you know meaning of diplomacy? Any achievements in “diplomacy” under current leadership?
Let truth be told – president Lungu enjoys flying from one country to another. He is tourist president number one. The notion that he is “diplomat number one’ is a facade. He is supposed to be a president, not a diplomat.
Kalaba were did they teach you that very ad having dull chaps like you as leaders .
Lungu is ruling the country from remote control – making one flashy statement here and a controversial one there; and, as always, in the typical perfunctory grade XII Zambian English. To him that’s what it means to govern. It’s clear he has not the slightest inkling what governing entails.
Lungu is president with minister, PSs and the civil service. He does’nt run the country alone. His presence or absence is irrelevant.
Diplomat number one is the foreign affairs chief. All this acclamation because we are still in the past where a president must be considered to know everything. No wonder the stink shows so easily because there is no shield! Enough said.
Did this president not understand the desperate situation that Zambia is in today, that it was in yesterday, that it has been in now for years – if not decades? Or did he aspire for the highest office merely to fill his own stomach? Why such a laid back approach to governing the country? Is this what they wanted, those who, unlike me, voted for him? Or is this a betrayal of the trust of those who relentlessly kept on shouting: “FINTU NI LUNGU”? Is he meeting their expectations? Are they happy with what he is doing? Or are they so blind that this foreign trip thing is simply Lungu’s way to evade the responsibility to govern? Are they so blind?
CORRECTION:
Or are they so blind that THAT THEY CAN’T SEE THAT this foreign trip thing is simply HIS way to evade the responsibility to govern? Are they so blind?
And if a betrayal, as oppose to sheer negligence, they by which book did this man swear to take the oath of office, the Bible of the Koran?
IFINTU NI LUNGU!!!!!
CORRECTION:
And if a betrayal, as oppose to sheer negligence, then by which book did this man swear to take the oath of office, the Bible of the Koran?
Can his supporters answer the above questions please..It would be good to know what the people who voted for this man think of him now.
Kalaba seems to be saying when a head of state invites Lungu, Lungu has no choice but to accept the invitation! Lungu can decline some of the invitations explaining that his impoverished nation just can’t afford reckless spending on unnecessary and fruitless trips.
The presidents job is not about taking foreign trips. Were that to be the case we would have presidents crisscrossing the globe the entire year
The president looks after his people He is not a tourist
IWE’ CHEER LEADER KALABA, JUST EAT YOUR MASTERS CRUMBS QUIETLY, ALA!!
What Diplomat is Kadansa No1??
Kadansa went to the U.N., to represent the Nation, BUT chose to party instead, drinking Jameson & doing his usual Dununa “Presidential Monkey Dance” till 3am in the morning, later retiring to his hotel.
“Diplomat Kadansa then woke up hungover, & proceeded to “represent” Zambia whilst still inebriated.
Just eat Mr Scarface, as its your time now, but word of advice- “You can cheat the people sometimes, BUT you cheat all the people all the time” Now we see the light, while Zambians wallow in loadshedding darkness!
Our politicians are a curse, they are a pest to our poor economies. They are in it for themselves.
Real work for Lungu is in Zambia, all this time and money spent abroad could have been well spent making sure farmers get the inputs on time.
It shouldn’t be a challenge at all for EL to delegate or even skip some of these trips. After all he finds it easy enough to delegate his ‘ opinions ‘ to Amos Chanda.
He does not have to be given a chance to become president. We know from day one when he succeeded Andy Mazoka that he is not material for president of Zambia.
Did you watch the video clips on LT of HH and GBM defending their criminal cadres? When I watched the third clip the clue to the jigsaw puzzle fell in place. The two made comments but the closing one was the interesting one when GBM said he had spoken and it was final and started walking away. HH agreed and started following GBM like a sheep. HH looked like a small school boy being led by a bulky bully. Then I understood what I had failed to understand about the change in HH behaviour from the economic manager and well mannered and educated man (that he had been before he met GBM) to a puppy following everything that GBM leads him to do. There is no HH anymore so UPNDonkeys stop misleading yourselves, your new de facto leader without even a convention is GBM.
Comment:now what is the point of appointing diplomats if the president want to take all the responsibility of the diplomat then he should fire him instead of waisting tax payers money and continue being the tourist attraction he is instead of hearing his people’s views and improving the country’s economy I really do not know were Zambia is heading kuwayawayafye
ZNBC main news is boring,the issue of UPND storming the High court is talk of every Main news but when this talkie boy Amos Chanda threatened the judiciary the very ZNBC was mute like cucumber which has been refrigerated for 1year,
I am PF but Kalaba should stop this nonsense of diplomat number 6 or number 15 or 1 or 2. Can’t this minister understand his finance minister who is talking austerity. Why are these people so disjointed and uncoordinated?
Lungu anakwela ndeke for first time in 2011 when PF won. SO the chap is still excited about being on a plane
Diplomat Number One is the Foreign Affairs Minister; in the American context, it is the Secretary of State. Lungu is the President and not a diplomat.
Why aren’t other heads of state not coming to Zambia? And just why can’t he turn down these useless invitations anyway? And can Kalaba tell the nation what benefits these trips have brought to the nation?
By the way, they don’t need to be paid allowances when they travel overseas as these international trips should and must be part of their job description. They need to spell this in the constitution.
When I travel interstate or overseas, I don’t get extra money on top of my salary… obviously the flights, accommodation and food are paid for but that’s pretty much about it.
Kalaba is a liar singing music to his boss. leaders of developed countries don’t travel like the way the tourist president has been travelling. Lungu is travelling to put more money in his pocket.
Kalaba is like child who only what mike when hungry,busy supporting ECL,when he will be questioned by the law enforcement agencies the very chap will run away
Iwe Ka Bushman Kalaba, bushe, waliumfwako uko Mugufuli, enda nga Vasco Dagama wobe? You are covering your boss, because, ulapoka ama allowances, nowaonder you cannot advise your president. Let him delegate and sit home and hear how people are suffering in hospitals with out medicine, linene