Thursday, March 28, 2024

My entire cabinet wanted to come with me to Israel-President Lungu

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President Edgar Chagwa Lungu Plants a Tree at The Grove of the Nation in the Jerusalem Forest on Tuesday 28-02-2017

President Edgar Lungu has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his entire cabinet wanted to come with him to Israel.

President Lungu who is visiting Israel on a five-day state visit said his entire cabinet was excited about the trip and all his Ministers wanted to follow.

He said his entire cabinet wanted to come along for good reasons but that he could only carry eight Ministers.
President Lungu has travelled with Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Commerce, Trade and Industry, Energy, Tourism, Water Development and Environment, Transportation and Health.

He was speaking to the media on Tuesday afternoon after meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu at his office.

“Zambia have been friends with Israel on and off and this time around we will be friends forever. My Ministers are happy to be here and the entire cabinet wanted to be here for good reasons. The relationship has been enhanced by the establishment of an Embassy here from 2015 to now we have escalated our friendship much more,” President Lungu said.

“My visit is an opportunity to explore further areas of corporation especially in Water and energy, it’s a shame that we have a lot of water and we are coming here to learn. It’s not a coincidence because you have learnt how to find water from the sea,” he said.

President Lungu also stated that Zambia went through a lot of anguish when it broke off ties with Israel between 1973 to 1993 saying it is now time we strengthen the friendship.

At its peak, some 1,000 Jews lived in Zambia, though that number has dwindled to only about 30 today.

There are three Jewish cemeteries in the country.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu has asked President Lungu to help Israel regain its observer status at the African Union, a position it lost in 2002 and has had trouble regaining, primarily because of the objection of South Africa and the North African Muslim states.

The Palestinian Authority enjoys this status in the AU and as a result Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is able each year to address the AU annual summit, something denied to Israel.
Zambia is one of the few African countries with a military attaché in Israel at its embassy which it opened in 2015.

Israel does not have an embassy in Zambia.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said after meeting President Lungu that his country “has undergone an amazing and admirable change in a transition to democracy since the ‘90s.”

He said that Israel hopes to “deepen its cooperation with the country, which I think is important for both our countries and both our peoples. I know that you’re opening a Jewish history museum in Zambia and soon a synagogue in the capital city. I hope one day I have the opportunity to visit those institutions and to visit Zambia.”

“I want to thank you for your friendship. It was well demonstrated in our meeting in Entebbe (Uganda) and we’ve been working together to strengthen and deepen the relations between Zambia and Israel. A year –and-a-half ago you opened an embassy in Israel and many, many of your Ministers have visited Israel recently and are visiting again today in fields of water, agriculture, education and also security, defence, anti-terrorism and many, many other areas,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.

“We hope to send our experts to help with alternative energy, with water and other areas that we’ll discuss today. I look forward to deepening this cooperation, which I think is important for both our countries and both our peoples. I know that you’re opening a Jewish history museum in Zambia and soon a synagogue in the capital city. I hope one day I have the opportunity to visit those institutions and to visit Zambia.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu said however stated that the future of Zambia and the future of so many African countries is being challenged by the rise of radical Islam and the terrorism that is espouses.
He said radical Islam and the fanaticism that it instils in young people is a challenge to countries like Zambia.

“I think that it’s a battle between the past and the future. We firmly stand on the side of the future, of modernity,” he said.

“I just showed you, Mr. President, a relic from our past. We’re very proud of our past, our Biblical past and our modern effort to come back to our ancient land but we seek to develop a hopeful and bright future for our people and we are as equally committed to do that for the people of Africa. So, I think we have to seize the future together but also work together to defeat the forces that want to take us to a dark past.”

He added, “In seizing the future, Israel is coming back to Africa in more than a verbal way. After this visit to East Africa, I’ll be going to Togo in West Africa in a few months. There will be a summit there to discuss Israeli technology in so many areas, in agriculture, in water, in cyber security, in every field of technology. I hope that we’ll be able to meet once more within a few months. But in any case, I want to assure you of our friendship and our commitment to our relationship and that is why I welcome you on a red carpet.”

38 COMMENTS

    • THIS WAS ONCE A DESERT- THE IREALITES TURNED IT INTO A GREEN FIELD. MOST OF THE FRUITS EATEN IN THE UK ARE GROWN IN ISREAL. ZAMBIA IS TRYING SO HARD TO INVEST ITS ENERGY IN TURNING ZAMBIA INTO A DESERT BY CUTTING DOWN ALL ITS INDIGENOUS TREES WITHOUT REPLANTING THE SAME INDIGENOUS TREES. THE CUT DOWN TREES ARE EITHER BURNE INTO CHARCOAL OR SOLD TO CHINA FOR THE FURNITURE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN CHINA OR JUST CUTTING TREES FOR FUN. VERY SOON WE WILL BE CALLING JEWS TO COME AND TEACH US HOW TO TURN A DESERT INTO A GREEN FIELD.

    • @I Wonder and jay jay u are right LT has deleted many posts criticising Lungu i think because lungu is reading them from Tel Aviv and that Amos Chanda has been told to speak to LT not to continue embarrass the president abroad

  1. you even happy to say these words as if you are using your money.we shall see in 2021 who ll vote for you and your entire cabinate who are read to waste our hardly earned money on useless tripes.what a hell to say these word without shame when the country is in ICU and IMF are on their way to hang all Zambian by their bukala and chinyo with kaloba but you are their boasting how to dry our coffers.foolish

  2. you even happy to say these words as if you are using your money.we shall see in 2021 who ll vote for you and your entire cabinate who are read to waste our hardly earned money on useless tripes.what a hell to say these word without shame when the country is in ICU and IMF are on their way to hang all Zambian by their bukala and chinyo with kaloba but you are their boasting how to dry our coffers.foolish

  3. you even happy to say these words as if you are using your money.we shall see in 2021 who ll vote for you and your entire cabinate who are read to waste our hardly earned money on useless tripes.what a hell to say these word without shame when the country is in ICU and IMF are on their way to hang all Zambian by their sticks and chinyo with kaloba but you are their boasting how to dry our coffers.foolish

  4. THATS VERY SAD NEWS THAT ZAMBIA WANTS TO ESTEBLISH STRONGER TIES WITH ZIONIST ISRAEL. THE ZIONIST REGIME OB NETANHAYU IS KILLING THOUSAND OF INNOCENT PALESTANIANS IN THE LAND THEY HAVE OCCUPIED FOR DECADES .UNITED NATIONS IS A TOOTHLESS BULLDOG.ZAMBIA MUST NOT FORGE ANY STRONGER RELATIONS WITH THIS ZIONIST MURDERS .

  5. This is most embarrassing.Was it necessary for Lungu to tell the Hosts and the whole World that his “entire Cabinet wanted to come to Israel”. Lungu’s sense of pride is shocking. So his Cabinet Ministers just want to travel and gallavant earning huge amounts of Travel Allowances. How can a Head of State talk like this and ridicule the Zambian Nation?How can the World take Zambians seriously with a President who talks down on his Ministers? With illegitimate Lungu at the helm Zambia is now a laughing stock where Elections are stolen in broad daylight, Judges are corrupt to the core and the Cabinet is full of corrupt and thieving Ministers. Shame on Zambia!!

    • @Chirwa,
      You have put it so well, factually, truthfully. Lungu continues to expose himself as the most unsuitable for the leadership of Zambia. For him to be in state house is merry-making time and endless extravagant living and worldwide travel. Zambians, you have every right to stop the nonsense. How can the entire cabinet want to abandon the country to go to a foreign country to waste the nation’s meagre financial resources?

  6. Yes, because they are lazy and do not know how to do their jobs. They would travel with the devil himself if he invited them. Lungu’s entire government are parasites, sycophants who cannot support themselves without boot licking. Lungu is making fools out of them and he wants the whole world to know that they don’t do any work. And who is going to pay for their trip? Lungu is not not like the Saudi King Salman who recently visited Indonesia in a gold plane via an escalator with 1,000 aides. They have the money.

  7. Not long ago they traveled to China for the same ‘learning’ bull#hit! It hurts me. Zambia has a lot educated citizens overseas because professionals leave the corrupt system and easily find alternative places to call home. 50+ wasted years! shame! we can cannot even run the mines which are our main forex earner, load shedding every day

  8. 5 days visit for 30 minutes meeting. Israelis are hard working people and Lungu without shame statement of wanting to carry the entire PF cadre cabinet is not only shocking to his hosts but embarrassing himself as president whose government has nothing to do except perambulating around Israel.

  9. We a Christian nation living Christian principles as guided by the only handbook of life…the word of God. According to the word those who bless Israel will be blessed Gen 12 v 3. Well done Edgar Lungu. Its a spiritual law and we will harvest the fruit in time to come

  10. That is the reason the meeting was only 30min and it was game over. Neta realised that there was no value, instead of talking business, someone was talking about his cabinet members. Neta just said, hey I don’t give it S.H.I.T, we are done.

  11. So when his entire cabinet say they want to steal this bigot will say it’s OK because they wanted to.

  12. ”…. My Ministers are happy to be here and the entire cabinet wanted to be here for good reasons…”

    Is this lungu for real ? Benji must be thinking

    ”..look at this African…..your whole cabinet and you are hop.ess ,no wonder you are broke…”

  13. Are Zambians not the ones to get Israelis saved? The are in the high Ninties heathens. They need us more than we need them.

  14. Is that a real quote? Ati “My entire cabinet wanted…” Don’t government ministers have any function in Zambia than travelling and shopping and seeing the sights of where once thousands of years ago someone said that Jesus lay dead for a while?

    Also it’s a worrying development to see written by LT that the Israeli PM says that “radical Islam and the fanaticism that it instills in young people” is a challenge to “countries like Zambia”. This is not yet true in the case of Zambia. Kenya, yes. But Zambia is far away from there. Unfortunately Israel has completely failed to find peace in its own region, and BB does not seem interested in anything other than “crushing” with “heavy price” anyone who would disagree with him. Perhaps he does not want peace anyhow. How will it help…

  15. …Zambia to be dragged into the quagmire of the Middle East?

    Israeli expertise, innovation and unbreakable spirit is not in question, but what is Edgar Lungu’s agenda – what is he trying to do? And why? How will it benefit Zambia?

  16. y jay is right LT has deleted many posts criticising Lungu i think because lungu is reading them from Tel Aviv and Amos Chanda has been told to speak to LT not to continue embarrassing the president abroad

  17. Most tree planting ceremonies showPEOPLE not just one person pointing at the zambian paque on a remebrance wall. I notice the same suit as two days ago.. one wonders if this was a photoshoot over one day.
    Tree planting where is the tree, the shovel, the Israeli delegation

  18. Israel was a worthy and true partner with us prior to the collective decision mandating member nations of The Organisation of African Unity (O. A . U.) to withdraw recognition of the state of Israel, and cease further diplomatic or economic interactions with it. At the height of a blossoming relationship, when Israel NEEDED international support, Zambia was a haven for its many truly gifted experts in agriculture, water development, irrigation schemes, minerals and sciences , plant adaptation , health, education etc. Our country benefitted a great deal from Israeli presence. But this approach was not just a happenstance, it was a well conceived strategy as part of the development plan by the Kaunda govt whose cabinets mostly included technocrats with a vision. The political decision of…

  19. What the President meant was that each ministry can learn / gain something from Israel not necessarily to go there to play or as an individual but as a government representative you shallow minded dunderheads. (The President said for good reasons)

    • I read between the lines and did not even want to clarify the way you have done for these dimwits! You know bitter people do not see any positivity in anything Govt does. So why why waste time!

  20. Zambia is in dangerous hands some statements are not worth mentioning abroad it is embarrassing really to have an illegal self imposed travelling abroad without a justified agenda shame on PF

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