President Edgar Lungu has said that Zambia will not be dragged into unnecessary economic squabbles with China by the West. President Lungu said that Zambia will remain neutral and will continue to enjoy the economic ties with both China and the Western world.
The Head of State said that he will continue to engage countries on better agreed terms of borrowing to develop the country.
The President has also clarified that Zambia is not in a debt crisis as suggested by some international media organisations.
The President further called on Zambians to ignore the negative propaganda aimed at damaging the country’s image.
The Head of State was speaking when he inspected various roads under construction in Lusaka.
And President Lungu said he is happy with the quality of roads being constructed under Lusaka 400 project.
The President said the roads will not only improve state of the capital city but will help to reduce congestion in the city.
Meanwhile Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development Ronald Chitotela said 1.2 billion dollars out of the 2.6 billion dollars borrowed from China has been channeled to construction of roads.
Mr. Chitotela assured the Head of State that the contractors engaged to construct the roads are on course.
He said all projects are moving on well and will be handed over to government on scheduled time.
The Minister also refuted the story making rounds that The Kenneth Kaunda International Airport has been sold.
I can see a Chinese in second photo. That’s where VIPUBA, the PF00lish govt has lost it.
– Why should all contracts be awarded to chinese firms if the debt will be repaid by zambian citizens?
Chinese firms use Chinese prisoner as labourers, use Chinese raw materials & chinese equipment. The money does not even touch our local bank accounts.
– Why waste money on projects like roads which have a short lifespan of 3 years max? Why not invest loans in manufacturing sector which can pay the loans without Govt.
– Roads contracts are a conduit for PF to steal by overpricing
– These contractors don’t want to go back to China hence we see them selling salaula, rearing ARV-Chickens taking informal jobs from locals
Just shut up you fool…you have sold the country to China…
Lungu is still dancing around the questions Zambians are asking on this issue. What’s the exact figure Zambia owes China ? What’s the total ? And how do you plan to repay the loan? Blaming the West is nothing but a distraction. Address the concerns of the Zambian people. You can’t say ignore the propaganda, as though we’re kids and we don’t think for ourselves. You need to address this issue at length. Show how much money you borrowed from China, when it was borrowed, at what terms it was borrowed, and what the money was used for. And then explain how you plan to repay the debt. All these questions are missing answers, which is leading to wild speculation in the international media. If you want to dispel the lies out there, then give a detailed explanation. Also address the…
(continued)… ZNBC, ZESCO and the Airport rumors, in detail too. Don’t just say, ” ignore the negative propaganda.” Tell us the truth then.
Why do you think borrowing is the solution to developing? Sad that ECL can’t separate developing from borrowing. This man is embarrassing; he has no clue.
Meanwhile… the US$ continues to slide
Lungu must realize its Zambian debt. It does not matter if their economic squabbles between A and B. He has to explain the allegations with proof to the Zambian people. They will be the ones to pay back.
“President Edgar Lungu has said that Zambia will not be dragged into unnecessary economic squabbles with China by the West.”
There we go again blaming the west.
Some Zambians are for China and some Zambians don’t like China because there records on human rights both sides they have a right to voice their opinion and choose whom they want to be there friend.
Human rights mantra. CHILDISH.
@ sharon, human rights do not apply to you, you are just diseased old mad cow with mouth filled with Chinese crap
Lungu is saying alot and not doing alot. Why has he concentrated on only responding to allegations of Chinese colonization which are subjective. Why not respond and tell us more about what his useless government is doing to deal with the debt crisis. Empty tins make a alot of noise . Actions speak louder than words silly man
If he spoke in Tonga, you could have heard him. That is the real problem you have nothing else. I feel for you and your had-hearted and dark soul.
Sharon, you’re indeed the biggest foooool on this forum. Why do you always assume that anybody criticizing Lungu and PF is a Tonga and a UPND member? Why are you so overly obsessed with UPND, HH and Tongas? Maybe you need to see a doctor. Seriously. That obsession is creepy. Not all people on this forum are UPND members, support HH, or are Tongas. You don’t have to be a UPND member to criticize corrupt, clueless Lungu. You just need to be a patriotic Zambian. But obviously that went right over your head. What a shame.
Even if he spoke Tonga he wouldn’t be saying anything of substance. Speaking a different language doesn’t cure one’s ignorance and mediocrity. But then again your thinking explains why people vote based on language and tribe and then get surprised when they vote in visionless rats
Sharon stop your tribalism for heaven’s sake, you can do better than this. A suggestion to cure your tribalism, go and volunteer for a week at the emergency depts of UTH or Chikankata hospitals.
@Sharon. LT please block this user and Kudos. This has nothing to do with HH or UPND but these chaps have natural hatred for HH. Maybe they love him so much to think about him all the time before they say anything about their Lungu that has indebted the country and made future Zambians slaves to the Chinese
Now it’s international media organisations and not rumour mongers from bitter opposition parties or local NGOs? Strange to hear that. We hope the vuvuzelas have heard that its international media organisations that are feeling sorry for the country for getting into debt again!
He should ask Trump about the international media.
K362 million paid as interest in 6 months of 2018 , the entire millennium challlenge program is K350 million. There is something wrong here guys!
Very smart Mr. President. Love you! HH will NEVER be president!
Do u have a life outside of this site? Am now chilling having a few beers and will soon be out with some friends. It must be hard being a cadre
HH might never be president. but anyone who has a brain and loves Zambia needs to start searching for a replacement for 2021
Nifunseko.. why is it that the chinese ambassador addressed zambia but from the time lungu stole the presidency he has never held a conference to answer his citizens and the media. I guess we know who is running this country. Lungu actually reports to a mere chinese ambassador. And u expect me to respect that silly rat
HE WA VOTED BY THE CHINESE, HAHA. TIME IS CATCHING UP.
Koswe mu mpoto yapping as usual ????????
CHILDISH.
The eye of Three Mansions. Three Mansionary.
Under 5 will always be Under 5. I wish he could grow up. Childish mentality is in UPND. Sadly, tribal too.
and the old mad cow will newer get younger, but it will still have brain infected with mad cow disease !!!
@ sharon, u mindless cadre, how much does koswe mu mpoto and his tandem of thieves pay you to forever be on sites like this one defending them, worshiping them? Eat that stolen money, your day of reconing will come soon enough. THIEVES
@Evil Eye??? HH has very strong and cannibal teeth! Does he eat money? Especially the coins I believe!
@the eye. Our reality in Zambia is that we have more of these mindless cadres than one healthy country can handle. Thinking of it, winning elections in this country has sadly become a matter of appealing to the reality of these half brained people, whose numbers have surely spiked, with half baked truths while trying not to burst their fantasy bubble where they feel things are ok and a country full of hypocrites can run on miracles and beer. Come to think of it lying to them is easier than telling them truth coz that requires a brain that wont burn when trying to understand why and how people should elect leaders or making simple calculations like separating truth/lies when making an observation on serious topics like reality of the trade/political world outside, what makes a…
My god CHILDISH is doing fine. I worship him in the morning, at noon and at night.
God has nothing to do with politics. get this through your head please eeh!!!
Do you also suck him?
The Head of State said that he will continue to engage countries on better agreed terms of borrowing to develop the country.
Really????????
The whole president should talk about borrowing and borrowing and NOT investment. I see a big problem here you cannot live on borrowing and borrowing.
And attacking the west cannot work because those guys can squeeze our bolls like hell.
Disaster!!!!!
The west is so jealousy with China’s new partnership with Africa. IMF the West and the free massonary group has lost Africa forever China is offering better loans than the west.Very soon the world will be relieved from solarization as the chinese yern becomes world currency
Angel, don’t be so ignorant and naive. See what China is doing to countries that are defaulting on their loans. Read about Sri Lanka and see how they lost their port to China, because of debt. Also look into what happened to djibouti. And then look into what has happened to Jamaica. Again don’t be so naive.
@ Angel of !mbecility
You uneducated jerk, liking the arse of Chinese, and yet, cannot spell your Country official language, do not understand difference between 1.875% and 9% and are oblivious to the new colonizers currency name.
I can bet that you are going to vote for Endemically Corrupt Leader of Plunderers Federation again?
Iwe chi angel stop that nosense,it’s clear u are a P.F cadre big time.Communist china is thieving Africa because leaders like Edgar & the rest of African leaders are senseless & corrupt ,china is here for business & nothing else .Sri lanka ,Djibouti & Pakistan are gud example where useless Chinese have taken over parastatal companies because the govt of the three nations failed to pay back the debt from china
Lungu will sell to the highest bidder….there is no none aligned.
He tried to sell to Saudi Arabia then went to try to sell to jearousalem the same goods……..in the process betraying the palistinans
Can you trust a man who tells his parliament that
“There will be no load shedding from this year onwards , but we will have power rationing …?? “
Lungu is waffling and not telling the Truth and that feeds into more Speculations. Why not State the Amount borrowed from China, Purpose,Terms and conditions, Source of Repayment, Arrears if any. Failure to do this confirms the allegations as true. Sri Lanka has lost a Port to the Chinese becoz the govt there failed to service and Repay the Debt on that Project. Lungu’s govt should pacify Zambians and assure them that this will not happen here. Figures don’t lie. What Lungu terms Western Propaganda we suspect its the Real Truth. IMF and Africa Confidential have no Reason to lie to Zambians. The writing is on the Wall.
This man, ECL is a clear danger to our nation. His ignorance is shocking and he is childlike in handling our most important national problem..debts which are due to empty our bowels as a nation leaving us destitute in out own country.
What exactly do others see in him to believe that he is a capable man when all we see when the nation is faced by a serious problem is his ineptitude?
It baffles me how us Zambians can redicule our own country and yet other people admire our country.i was in my local pub and met this English teacher who teaches history and suddenly was amazed with her saying she visited Zambia and was amazed with what she saw and spoke highly of Zambia and recommended to her friends as one place the must visit as the place is beautiful and has wonderful people.Now you have politicians who want to destroy the same country they want to rule to the international world.i love the way some politicians like Wynter Kabimba oppose to some wrongs the government is doing and the likes of sinkamba that’s how you provide checks and balances.Remember President Chagwa Lungu is not there forever your time will come and you will realise that the damage you are creating…
You should have asked your friend to try living there like the locals , then she will know poverty and hardships…
Big Difference between visiting a country as a rich tourist while being taken to all the lovely tourist areas AND living in a country as a citizen. That muzungu was just trying to make u feel good. In fact if she was a sharp teacher she would have done her research into zambian economy and educated herself with facts of this poor economy.
NÈZ NEW EDUCATED ZAMBIA you assume that every tourist coming to Zambia must be a rich person. Respect the Muzungu’s opinion even if you dont agree with him. Why should she educate herself on that. She was more interested in enjoying her holiday and she did enjoy it. You will probably never enjoy anything because it seems you even hate yourself. Better just go in the bush and bury yourself and the world will be better off without such negative entities who never contribute anything positive
Of course the tourist is relatively rich in comparison to the average zambian who will never afford a holiday within zambia let alone abroad. Of course she is enjoying zambia because her pounds or whatever currency, is way more powerful than lungu’s toilet paper kwacha. . and here you are thinking she has your interests at heart. Same with the chinese.. months and all this time before they have stolen your jobs and mistreated workers. But the moment they are linked to PF’s failure and when oppositon advises you on being wary and to explain the debt debacle, you go to the extent of supporting the chinese. Meanwhile in china you africans are spat on and treated like monkeys. sad
interesting!
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
You can not borrow yourself to success! We have immense value in our natural resources that can translate in a lot of value to build the Zambian economy and yet all what the politicians do is BORROW MORE AND MORE… ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT ” Proverbs 22:7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
Why cant politicians open their eyes that we are giving away our national treasure for a song… Its a shocker..
America owe China 1.7 Trillion Dollars
and how productive or rather what is their GDP in relation to their debts? Is this not what we are telling you that you need to borrow responsibly. If america was not being productive do you think they would have managed to go on for this long? You should remember that figure includes trade deficit which is not techincally kaloba in the african sense of things.
The President is Right on his Foreign Policy but must emphasise the Interest of Zambia to the Two He should take lessons and stock in the composition of Chinese debt and threats to sovereignty status and standing of Djibouti where china owns 80% of its public debt, there has to be some to portfolio alignment in debt and Investments east or west or south We know that he is aware of capital as a weapon of power The Investments from China and Indeed others is Good but Zambia must always fight and emphasise its own real interests Those interests that can improve the livelihood and welfare of its citizens above those foreign interest
We have a Cond rum here we…
have the Chinese Investors and our exposure in Euro Bonds to the western pointing to same markets we therefore would need to protect and maximize our returns from both sides and simply our non-ferrous metals we have as a source of reserves
it will be also important also to re-balance and use the returns in these investments to re-invest those in growth areas of Manufacturing and re emphasize industrial clusters and Zones to promote services and industries in the country and stop exports of raw materials on which we earn little as opposed to exports of crude raw materials
especially non-ferrous metals that china has failed to capture in the US and Canada to support similarly its manufacturing sectors in these rare metals
The funding from Beijing to Zambia is tremendourously good but Zambia like any other country in the world poised to benefit in these Chinese financing for long-term must fight for its own interests. China is engaged in diverse set of bilateral relationship also with the west for its benefit and often the supplies from Africa are supporting the Chinese inroads to the west in those economic and political ties Zambia like other African counties must their learn to defend and position their national interests and priorities well There…
There should be an overarching policy on Chinese and Indeed other foreign Investments in Zambia spunning many periods to come
We should also see the elasticize of these financing and Investments from China and others on growth and employment for our people and review them always
The President is correct in his policy stance bu we would call for more emphasis on interests of Zambia and Industrialization in all these
And? In so far there is no answer to the CORE QUESTION. HOW MUCH THIS LOT HAS BORROWED FROM CHINA?
Please, enough of your empty crap.
SHARON, it could have been well with you if you were a woman but a man in a womnsname . you are not noml because you are not your self . you are chameleon.
intergrity lies in living within your means…. No justification that America borrows so shall we borrow…… A debt free life is precious and peaceful……..
WE SHALL BORROW BORROW AND BORROW FROM CHINA THE WEST WILL TALK AND LATER WE SIDE WITH THE WEST TO CHASE THE CHINESE FOR OUR SOVEREIGNITY OUR GOOD NEIGHBOURS MALAWI MOZAMBIQUE ZIM WILL JOIN US FIGHTING CHINESE OUR OF ZAMBIA AND KKIA ZESCO ZNBC
Great blog here! Also your website quite a bit up very fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate hyperlink to your host? I wish my web site loaded up as fast as yours lolMost impoprtant point is choosing words