President Hakainde Hichilema has paid tribute to all men and women who lost their lives and participated in World War I which ended at the 11th hour on 11th November 1918.
In a message on his Facebook page, the Head of State said the selfless sacrifice of the heroes in defending the values of freedom and liberty fills the country with profound gratitude and pride and will always be remembered.
“Today we remember the heroes of our nation, who fought so bravely in both the first and second World Wars, died in the line of duty and were buried in foreign lands in Malaysia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Burma, Somalia, Middle East and Sri Lanka”, he said.
President Hichilema also paid tribute to the 9 surviving World War veterans as well as 37 widows and direct dependents as they continue to bear witness to the dedication and duty of others who have served proudly in the Armed Forces with distinction and honour.
The Head of State led the order of Parade Remembrance Day at the National Cenotaph at the Independence Avenue in Lusaka today.
He lay wreaths for the National heroes and was followed by Service Chiefs, Acting Chief Justice Michael Musonda, Second Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Cabinet Ministers and other government officials and diplomats.
In a homily by Zambia Army Director for Religious and Moral Services, Shadreck Mwale encouraged all citizens in the country to remember, pray and honour all those who served and continue to serve the country in search of peace.
He urged citizens to show gratitude to the men and women in uniform for their commitment to the country and its freedoms.
Col. Mwale also encouraged citizens to thank God for peace and called on people to choose peace over vengeance and retaliation and good over evil.
He said peace is a key component of any sustainable development and an enabler of security, social and economic justice of a nation.
Col Mwale stated that investing in peace and conflict prevention should be a central priority in every nation and encouraging everyone to value peace.
Speaking at the same event, British High Commissioner to Zambia, Nicholas Wooley
The Commemoration is very important in Zambia and the United Kingdom and Africa as a whole as they remember those that gave their ultimate sacrifice for peace and sacrifice for their nations.
Mr Wooley said the men and women fought for peace and stability and will always be remembered.
He added that the day also honours all those who continue to serve their nation in maintaining peace and harmony.
We should include in the prayer a few sentiments that recognizes that our people were taken to fight wars they were not deserving to fight and causes that were not theirs. Sometimes these occasions become tired antics of empty ceremony.
We need to see kapoyongo and the former PIG answer questions of how the ZP was turned into a PF cader army to harass and maime anyone with opposing views to lungu and how the police protected PF caders who brutalised citizens , ……..
Even arresting the reporting citizens instead of the offenders……..
This is one meanigless memorial. Lets be honest who did our people go to fight for in those foreign lands? Whose interests were they defending? The british Mornachy offcurse? Do you realise that after ” defending” the british interests the same countries came to africa and shared our continent and started oppressing us and stealing our wealth? We had to start fighting for our independence from the same people we defended in THEIR
world wars. Did our fathers who fought in those wars get any compensation or support after the war? YES they did……A MEDAL!!!
PLEASE STOP CELEBRATING THIS DAY !!!!
The president needs to do away with that red carpet…………
Servers no meaningfull purpose…..
I don’t see why we should continue to commemorate such a day. As a colony we were forced to fight by the British when we didn’t even how they and the Yankees differed with the Germans. I’d rather we remember our own people especially those that died at hands of the brutal Boer Regime that the British and the Yankees supported for many years. I’ve in mind Alick Nkhata, Maina Soko and many soldiers that died at Kavalamungu. We have some of our heroes like Peter Zuze, Tom Fara, etc that we can celebrate. That British coward of a governor that gave our land to the Belgian must be tried posthumously for treason. We must reclaim the Pedical
There is a difference between whether Zambians should have been fighting in the world wars, and whether those who did so were brave people whose courage, wounds and deaths should be honoured. They are part of our history, what they achieved is ours too. Zambian units fought with distinction, in Burma they were the first to defeat the Japanese, they helped liberate Ethiopia from Italian imperialism. And they were on the side that came to see human rights as essential because of the horrors of war and prejudice.
Ignore high commissioner Wooley thinking and focus on the men and women who have served, what they went through and what they achieved. Saying we should not commemorate is to say that we should just ignore their lives. Hardly a Christian thing to do.
If the Japs and Germans (Nazi’s) had won the world wars, the world would be in a much worse state both countries at that time hated blacks, so it is important to remember the fallen, remember no black Zambian was forced to join the Royal Rhodesian regiment , they chose to for probably the money and adventure.
Also most Zambian’s may not know that the last shot fired and the last German battalion to surrender happened on Zambian soil near Mbala in November 1918. So World war 1 finished in Zambia!