The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has said that the visit to Zambia by the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair is a mark of confidence in the new administration.
In a statement to the media, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Stanley Kakubo said that the visit presented the New Dawn Government with an opportunity to engage with strategic partners as it works to achieve the goal of economic transformation for the benefit of the people of Zambia.
Mr Kakubo, who was on hand to receive Mr. Blair last evening said that Mr. Blair, who is on the official visit, will hold a consultative meeting with Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia on today, 29th September 2021 at State House in Lusaka.
Mr. Blair served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Credited as one of the longest serving Labour Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Mr. Blair presided over uninterrupted economic growth during his tenure, among other achievements. Politically, Mr. Blair played a pivotal role in restoring peace to Northern Ireland, securing the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
Currently, Mr. Blair serves as Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a non-profit organization founded in 2017 which seeks to support political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies in a globalized world.
The organization has operations in 14 African nations, the UK, the United States of America, United Arab Emirates, Serbia and Israel.
That’s very true,the 1st few years of PF gov’t there were no foreign leaders coming to Zambia.
Tony Blair is a war criminal he shouldn’t be allowed on Zambian soil for his Iraq war crimes.
You haven’t seen nothing yet with this UPND Administration, That’s why some of us we were calling for interim president we saw this coming. New York trip was a disaster. Revealed UPND true colors.
PF you see the mess you got us into.
People what confidence? We have had various former Western leaders visiting Zambia since the 1960s. Oh even Queen Elizabeth visited during the Unip time. It’s just normal. When ask about promised jobs you say it’s too soon, when a has been comes to Zambia you say it’s the confidence they have in so and so, how can confidence be developed so soon?
In his resentment of the western countries Edgar China Lungu sold out Zambia to the Chinese, and ran up this huge debt. If you don’t want for China to own everything, you will have to talk to the west again – and you end up talking to IMF, World Bank, and to private companies represented by people like Tony Blair. In the coming weeks you will see more private jets land at KKIA……..
Blair and George Bush are War criminals. If they were African they’d be at The Hague or in Jail. He was sent here by the Illuminati that is known.
WE AFRICANS DESERVE TO BE IN THE HAGUE
TAKE A LOOK AT AFRICA AND THE MESS THEY ARE IN !!
THROUGH POOR LEADERSHIP LOOTING AND PLUNDERING THE ECONOMY BY ITS LEADERS
He is considered a war criminal by many and does hold a lot of baggage and is hated by many but Blair represents big business interests of the west………..
He makes business connections all round the world for western interests………
There is nothing wrong with seeing what they have to offer……….
Unless of course, you are so paranoid of the white man and see colonial motives in every thing while considering your selves of inferior human to them , ………. ??
It depends on how you look at things. It looks like we’ll be caught in the crossfire between the West and China. However, if the UPND and Bally are smart they can get good deals from both Britain and the US. Britain yearns to forge new partnerships especially after Brexit. The British were brave when they decided not to leave others to determine their destiny through the EU. Why MCS ran to China was that there were no conditions attached to Chinese loans. Therefore, the West must revisit their approach to these partnerships because they’ve contributed to bring us where we are today. It’s an opportunity for us to cement our relationships. It’s better to tell us to remove cadres from our politics than to accept gay rights
The West we used to admire no longer exists. Their values and morals that we looked up to are now perverse immoral and nothing short of Satanic. For all the negatives people say of China, their infrastructure investments in Africa have more to show for than any western investment at anytime. China has committed billions to Zambia. Money which cannot be compared to the pittances from the west. We just need to get better and less corrupt at negotiating infrastructure loan term. All these visiting critics are now landing at a world class airports and roads courtesy of the Chinese.
Visit by Tony Blair is a mark of confidence in the new administration,Upnd must keep in mind that if they don’t manage to deliver to the zambian expectations,It what matter who visits them
There are visible and concrete manifestations of Chinese and even Indian infrastructure investments by companies like Avic and Africon in road and airport constructions. I can even point to Chinese companies investing in the manufacturing sector and creating employment opportunities for our youth. Other than support for Covid and HIV, I have yet to come across an American or British company constructing a road or setting up a factory in Zambia.
@Ndeloleshafye & @ Fact, you have both hit the nail on its head. Honestly there’s no British or USA manufacturing company operating in Zambia per see other than their interests in mines which do not pay any taxes but claim vat inputs ultimately taking even more than what Zambians benefit from mines. China is building North America and Europe. The Chinese people insult bailed the USA government of debt otherwise they would have also failed to pay like Zambia. Please read business news and know how much USA owes China. If China owns Zambia, then they own the USA too. Ala tulebelenga, the true USA ended with Reagan. Trump tried to bring it back but everyone teamed up including big tech, to get him out. China is the biggest economy not USA.
What has he even come for? Excitement in upnd should be tamed. We all know whites come all the to africa with all the covid scare for nothing and this so called minister is becoming honny!
When I read that “Mr. Blair serves as Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a non-profit organization founded in 2017 which seeks to support political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies in a globalized world, ” I ask myself how the aim of building open and inclusive societies by the Institute for Global Change differs from that of George Soros’ Open Society Foundation that Bally met in the US and who use the same wording to disguise their support for gays. Of course, the visit by Blair, just like George Soros’ meeting with Bally in the US, is a mark of confidence in the new administration as there is the promise to the Western World that Bally is more receptive to the moral decadence of the West and that Zambia’s…
…natural resources can now be better exploited under Bally to promote Western interests. It is indeed a new dawn that brings with it more promises for the Western world. One just wonders how the rest of Africa looks at Zambia now, especially that we have a President who invites African opposition leaders to his inauguration as if these are the ones he will be relating with.
Lusaka times please for heaven seek can you show or display the full image of that man who is this man with Blair if not Edgar Lungu then why displaying his picture with Blair?????
George Bush and even Melinda Gates visited Zambia shortly after PF won . to read too much into the visit. It was scheduled
At the rate upnd are going to sell our country to the west, we wonder what will be left after five years. How can a visit by a war criminal be a sign of confidence by the outside world?
upnd is treading a dangerous path which is detrimental to our country. There is nothing to admire about western countries. They have colonised and stolen from Africa. They continue to steal through well coordinated neo-colonialist and imperialist schemes. And our gorvenment shamelessly calls Tony Blair’s visit a sign of confidence?
Awe, katwishi uko tuleya!
Boris would NEVER send Tony B-liar as his envoy to any country not even to war-torn Syria…get that through your skulls, Tony is there to represent his own interests just like that former RSA President who visited early in the month, Tony also presents his own organisation called Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that supposedly aims to help make globalisation work for the many, not the few so he is not doing it for free.
Dont be foooled by him carrying his own suitcase …this is a very rich man who has come to broker deals on behalf of big business just have savvy negotiators.
Issacher – PF already sold your country to the Chinks get that part right all strategic assets are in their hands and the sad part is nobody can disclose the actual figures in these Chinese loans because of non disclosure claims reckless PF signed on behalf of your children…have you ever seen HH talk about Chinese loans he responses with a vague or general answer. The Chinks can put the rag off UPND if they wanted and grab their property.
All you have to do is send savvy negotiators with Zambia’s best interests at heart when you are cutting deals with these sly people not send street thugs like KZ and former school tutors like LAZY LUNGU was doing.
HH has to make his stance known on Lower Zambezi NP now that he is in govt among other things…people want to know who was gassing them, the Vesper report, who shot Nsama, the Mukula theft …you have all these reports produce them to the public.
Stop being naïve my people. Tony Blair is a simple citizen just like any British visiting Zambia.
I would not trust Mr Blair, what his motives for visiting Zambia especially when there is a Labour Party Conference taking place in Brighton.
Where is the mountain here? has this new government refused to deal with the Chinese or is it the one inviting and asking to travel so they can meet the west? Why the East is not doing the same because i dont see the Government refusing to attend any meeting if its invited by the East.
Probably is there for the Funeral of Mr Simon Zukas, as Mr Blair has close ties with Israel
UPND here now you are SCHEMING LIES and taking credit for nothing. This trip by Tony Blair was planned when Lungu was still the president. Its only that protocol was changed to allow the new administration settle in. If that is the case then Lungu should be taking the credit. There is too much lies manifesting in these administration. I wish someone from PF can state the facts and produce records.
They only come here when they leave office not when they are sitting presidents. Bush also came here during the reign of Sata. This is after he became a former president. I don’t think their visits add any value. No need to be excited.
I have signed up to receive news bulletins by email from the Tony Blair Institute Global which has partnered with Oracle to form The Global Health Security Consortium. Tony wants to make a case to western nations and powerful pharmaceutical companies to do more in distributing Covid vaccines.
I know that 5 months ago, the institute sent a news newsletter that Tony Blair was to visit 5 African Nations and Zambia was among them.
In essence this trip was prepared a long ago while Lungu was in power. It appears the minister is milking this issue. That said its good thing for Tony to visit Zambia. He has become a global powerful lobbyist.
Chi – the last person they would want to see at labour conference is Tony Blair…mind you he flew in on a chartered aircraft he can fly back in time for that ..this man is worth £60 million.
Why are so dull as a nation? Getting excited because the once so called America’s poodle is visiting our nation? Shame. And by the way he started by visiting Malawi through his TBI where Malawian’s rejected him since its a neocoloniaism entity . The Chakwera adm hired Tony Poodle Blair to identify gaps in governance institutions and the protest to have him in Malawi started over 10 months ago. They have rejected the work offered to him by the Govt , whether paid or unpaid for. But you dull Zambians think it’s a plus to host this war criminal. So passive. This is why foreigners have taken over this country, go to rural areas and you will find Rwandese now building homes and shops in our villages, a few years ago, Senegalese came to Zambia to steal our wealth and break marriages and…
This criminal should be in the Hague tried on war crimes and killing of innocent lives in Iraq. He is such an irrelevant chap where he comes from.
This is the government for under fives. What value will he add to the Zambian economy. HH start working and honour the LIES you told Zambians.
What a waste of my vote waking up at 02hrs for this, the G.. gangesters and war criminals are landing for the kill. I wish I was a prophet
How? That is a murderer visiting you and you are going ballistic! What kind of people are Africans? Always putting the begging bowl before principles
Ask Gaddafi’s son where his father is? This guy met him in the desert and had tea with him. But Gaddafi was hunted like a mad dog by the same people who dined with him and he supplied them with oil.
Ba LT nimahouse niggers. They have blocked the updates for anti Blair posts. Me and friends have tried to upvote Nelson Mandela and ndelloleshafye to no avail. Nice news manipulation iyi