It is not in my nature to blow my own trumpet, but since I joined politics, I have learnt that I have to talk about myself, says President Edgar Lungu.
Speaking during the University of Zambia (UNZA) Alumni gala dinner at Mulungushi International Conference Centre yesterday, President Lungu said “politics can teach you to depart from what your mother and father taught you”.
“Barclays Bank has supported us with the construction of what is today are referred to as the Levy Mwanawasa hostels. I hope we will have Edgar Chagwa Lungu hostels soon. Politics can teach you to depart from what your mothers and fathers taught you. It is not in my nature to blow my trumpet but since I joined politics I discovered that you have to talk about yourself,” President Lungu said.
“Much as it offends your rivals, I have also learnt never to call them the opposition just call them your rivals, your partners or whatever, but they are not the opposition anymore. They are just our friends on the other side. I think we should beat our drums if we have reason to do so.”
He thanked various partners for their efforts to improve UNZA.
“Apart from accommodation shortage, the university is also faced with inadequate teaching space and library infrastructure. I must also commend the government of the United States of America for funding the construction of the new Population Studies lecture theatre in 2015 and also pay tribute to the People’s Republic of China for the gift of the Confucius Institute building. I am also aware that in 2016, the government of the Republic of Ireland constructed the department of food science and agricultural sciences,” President Lungu said.
“The Japanese government has been a great partner in the advancement of the University of the University of Zambia too and those of us who were there during that time will recall, the school of Natural Sciences is a testimony of the warn relations between Zambia and Japan. In addition to all this support, the people of the Republic of Germany have also partnered with us to set up a special university centre, the School of Education.”
He promised that his administration would see to it that new hostels were constructed at UNZA.
“Today, the University of Zambia has a total of 12,000 students, the growth is commendable. What is not commendable is the standards. There is need for us to be concerned because now that the numbers are increasing, the standards are going down. There is need for us to fight to ensure that the numbers that is quantity and quality correspond. I am glad that president [Levy] Mwanawasa did something for the University of Zambia because he is a product of the University of Zambia. Similarly, I will do something about it because I am a product of the University of Zambia,” said President Lungu.
“I know that president [Kenneth] Kaunda did something about the university because he had no choice, he needed graduates.
I am so happy that we have honoured our promise to create 4650 bed spaces at the main campus but I think this is a drop in the ocean. We think we can do more. Therefore, we will build more hostels even at the School of Medicine in the near future and what we can do for the main campus.”
President Lungu also reiterated that government would not hesitate to amend policies which proved to be problematic in managing the education sector as it was not an act of inconsistency, but smart progression.
He also donated K1 million towards UNZA operations.
The UNZA Alumni gifted him a year book containing names of everyone who has passed through the institution since it was established.
And Higher Education Minister Professor Nkandu Luo says government is working on a policy which will compel university alumni to give back to their training institutions.
“University education is not financed 100 per cent by government…I want to say to all of us here that the best investment you can ever make in your life is education. I want to announce this evening that this is not a one off event. My ministry has been going through reforms, the alimni is going to be a policy that all of us should start contributing to the institutions where we have been. So those of you who may not be from the University of Zambia but were from Copperbelt University or elsewhere will be in our database and you will have to give back,” said Prof Luo.
It is a great idea to pay back but I will only consider paying back a penny if there is a guarantee that the money will be utilised for the intended purposes and not to fill the pocket of the vice chancellor
They are suddenly rich enough to donate k1million
Africans never learn!!!!
Link every person to their NRC – Passport -bank account and TPIN then make it mandatory that everyone who graduates from a higher learning institution pays back the interest-free tuition loan once employed otherwise this cycle of poverty will never end. Make sure you trace them anywhere in the world they may end up going! In the end, even thieves will look like heroes when they donate at a fundraising event!
@james buga LOL! Yes start with the names in the book handed to Chagwa
Lungu drinks too much, no wonder his marriage is in problems,,, just look into his eyes,, his face looks drank tired,,,
What is a bed space?? These two words are only used In zambia,, a normal university requires accommodation not ‘bed space’ !!!!
@Ndobo, what is this now Edgar saying about his mother???
He says he has to abandon what his mother emphasized:
– thy shall not steal K1billion (old) to hide at UNZA.
– thy shall not dance with former UNZA girlfriends, while wife watching on TV.
James Buga
I am one of those who wanted to pay back and the conditions behind the BC form said you will pay back,and many other conditions governing for example what happens if you decide to leave the country after benefitting from free education.Alas 30 yeas later people are still holding workshops and making political statements that their father’s already did for them.
Mailon
You are one of the very few people with a noble mind most people will need a lot of arm twisting and a dose of court efforced treats to pay back! As for our politicians, only a few have morals but most have no brains at all!
Buying support for presidential third term ka.
Where is he finding money to donate when most farmers and government workers in remote areas have not yet been paid for months now.
K1MILLION kwacha is nothing compared to good governance which Lungu and PF lack. In countries with proper educational policies you never hear a president donating money for national education.
I will not be surprised to hear that Lungu is now building University hostels to expand his property empire. In these hostels he will accomodate PF student cadres and charge government extortionate rent as a way to privatise public money.
Zambians have become totally useless at standing up for their rights and fight corruption head on. Some one is stealing millions of dollars from you and you praise him for…
At least he gave out not the Illuminati boss and privatization beneficially who has failed to do anything even in his village.
Chils,
grow up. What has your rich HH donated to UNZA? Nothing!!!!!
HH pays his taxes in millions more than the tax dodger Lungu pays. So should he be obliged to donate when he is already sponsoring more than a thousand student at UNZA on top paying his taxes.
Lungu has not paid any tax since he became president. He atually owes over K 10million in taxes. Him his stooges are the reason why UNZA students are not getting a burasry.
Instead of paying tax Lungu is busy stealing tax payers money. Thats what he thinks being a predident is.
Never say die KK! If we didn’t do something about him he would still be president today and still chancellor of UNZA.
Thats scary!!!!! The fact that he is still there means he could still have been president. Lets thank Akashambatwa Mbikusita Lewanika, Arthur Wina, Humphrey Mulemba, Levy Mwanawasa, Fredrick Chiluba, Baldwin Nkumbula, Roger Chongwe, Edith Nawakwi, Kaunga Kayongo, Christon Tembo, Ronald Penza and the other gallant members of the Garden House resolution that pushed for the reinstatement of multi-party politics
Peter Njobvu, mate a lot of those guys you are mentioning weren’t there from the beginning when MMD was being born. FTJ for example just hijacked the cause. It was Aka and Arthur Wina and a few others who aren’t on your list. Of course the propagandists will claim and tell you otherwise. Had those who had the original idea given the opportunity to govern this country, it would have been a much more prosperous country devoid of the corruption vice, the Bemba ‘nchekeleko’, ‘natola fye’ vice! Pretty sad!
Even people like GBM should give back at least to the secondary school he went to if he didn’t manage a higher institution of learning.
Looks like UNZA is growing off the fundraisers ,Japanese aid ,USA funding. This is the self inflicted handicap that creates and feeds the culture of dependency – and the Ghanaian President just gave us a lecture against this just yesterday.
Imagine.
Revenue from taxes is for foreign travels VX V8,paying for the bloated civil service while education,health and other critical areas are left to donors.Sick nation.
Ghanaian President is two steps ahead of these tins!!
LT please fix your headline. It should have been ….
Lungu gives back K1 million from the K100s of millions of TAXPAYERS MONEY that he has stolen for Unza hostels!
It seems Lungu’s speech at this function was very UNINSPIRING, VERY DEMOTIVATING to most well-wishers. Analyse the following excerpts from his speech: –
-“politics can teach you to depart from what your mother and father taught you”.
-“I am glad that president [Levy] Mwanawasa did something for the University of Zambia because he is a product of the University of Zambia. Similarly, I will do something about it because I am a product of the University of Zambia,” said President Lungu.
-“I know that president [Kenneth] Kaunda did something about the university because he had no choice, he needed graduates”.
So, if you are not a product of UNZA and you have a choice not to donate, there is NOTHING in his speech to cause you to want to. This is a fund-raising occasion and is this…
Cont’d …This is a fund-raising occasion and is this the best he can come up with???? I know Lungu does not have the gift of eloquent speech, and he cannot think on his feet, but this is a new low. Just how dull is this Lungu?
We can’t blame his upbringing because by his own admission, has departed from his parents’ teachings. So, its just his self-made dullness.
@BRABUS, educate me. Maybe you are right, I don’t know!
But if you are talking about him giving a “few” ngwees to his clan so they can attend college, then spare me the nonsense.
Because I too who is not even rich have done that and still doing that… sponsored my little brother through UNZA and have a nephew there as we speak. But that is NOT the kind of giving back we are talking about here, is it?
When will (HH) donate?
Selfish man
This is what we call putting things in context – I feel no need to add after reading this – Thanks Mr Kudos
He is not a donating type. It is not in his blood. Only real people donate real money, if you know what I mean.
It is easier to donate stolen funds (Lungu & PF) than funds earned through genuine hard work (HH & GBM)
He (HH) is waiting until he becomes President. If not, you can forget about it…rich Africans’ mentality right there for you!
In countries with well-cultivated philanthropic cultures, it is rich private individual/citizens, especially members of the alumni, who contribute heavily and on a sustained basis to these institutions for things such as Scholarships, Research, Sports, New Buildings, College Expansion, extra.
Universities such as Havard, Stanford, etc, with some of the Well-founded educational endowments, in billions of dollars, are all supported by mostly rich members of the Alumni. Go to some of these universities/colleges and you will easily see buildings named after some of these people. But not in Zambia….people want to wait until they are President!
@Yambayamba,
What? HH is waiting until he becomes President? Please do a bit of research before you give your view.
“There is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity” – Martin Luther King Jr.
There you are, Hallucinating again.Can’t you shut your anus for once?
Wabetole
if he had donated his Toyota spacio before 2011 ,we would have said,bravo.
Vote for him first before you can start ordering him to donate. Mind you he has already built a min Hospital and you PF cadres are refusing to send medical personnel just because it is HIM.
Please refer to the president of Ghana’s recent speech on “donations” and “begging”..
Why is it in Zambia we place so much importance on who can donate the most ?
Why do we entertain this beggar mentality?
I’m not UPND neither I’m I PF, I’m a Zambian Nationalist and it’s disgraceful to see my country men caught up in arguments and debates concerning who can donate the most, the president or his main rival… UNZA is a public institution of very great importance to national revival, it should be receiving all its funding in full from tax payer money and proceeds of copper mining.
UNZA is just as important as Ministry of Finance, Or FRA and ZRA but you never really find the latter seeking out donations from The president or the opposition, they just get funded automatically…
NSCS what do mean putting things in context..how many students is ECL sponsoring as compared to HH,that 1million is tax payers money,our money,You people are so gullible..
Gullible or just plain dull?
ERB, when I say putting things in context, what I mean is reality the way things are.
Am no ECL fun but we have to respect the presidency…
Use the same lens you are judging ECL on tax payers money and focus it on HH privatisation on the nations jewels. The same lens please, that is all we ask… that is putting things in context.
What context iwe?
Don’t mix up things here HH didn’t privatise the mines etc. its Chiluba and MMD who did! if you have any lenses use them to zoom on Chiluba and his henchmen to see how they shared the loot. start with Ronald Penza, valentine chitalu, dipark Patel the list is long!
Dear Mr Samuel Chonya aliasNSCS,
What context? . As an Accountant, if you really are, you must stick to objective truth. , you must have ethics. If you know of any wrongdoing on HH, which the wrath of vindictive King Cobra failed to find, and you are withholding such evidence, then surely you must know that a case can be raised against you, just as a case can be raised against you for slander and libel if you don’t have such evidence.
So why not put your Country first by submitting what evidence you have on HH’s wrongdoing to ACC, or Zambian Embassy in UK, or Interpol if you live in UK as the flag suggests. We do NOT want to end up with another person like Lungu in State House who ‘fails’ to explain how he acquired K21m+ in 12 months of his Presidency, and fails to show any Tax trails…
@ERB
Show us the non-Tongas HH has been helping.
and were is Esther i have never seen her with ECL
You have started with ridiculous rumors already. If she was everywhere all the time with her husband you are the same people who would be accusing her of wasting Govt resources. Or you would be accusing her of being too possessive and insecure in her marriage. The same way you tend to start rumors when you don’t see her husband (the President) that he is sick and confined to State House or has been secretly flown to some unknown Country for medical treatment. That is who you are. Stop reading ZWD….you will become dumb@ss!
Do you even know or understand the amount of expenditure and resources (human and otherwise) that go into protecting both the President and First Lady at the same time? It is huge. So the less you see of the First Lady, the better for the Country’s coffers. Get a…
Ba Yambayamba You can really defend. Like You eat together. Are you not Sunday Chanda?
After the shopping mall, now this man wants a hostel in his name! I pity Lungu badly! why does he get himself off note with himself….God gave him a chance to run a country do the right thing!
Lungu donating stolen money.
Donating their own money back to them!!
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Also, “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you will have the strength to escape all that will befall you.”
The Gospel
Compelling everyone who passed through UNZA to give back is NOT a sane thing to do. I think it is better to ask everyone who passed through UNZA to give back Then each person can give back out of THEIR OWN volition. I have no problem giving back myself but I DON’T trust my donation will be used for the intended purpose. There are many cases where donations have been sucked into officials’ expenses instead of what it is intended. Donations should not be made compulsory.
When will HH donate to UNZA too?i have never seen a stingy man like Kainde!!!i even wonder why HH claims to be rich when the nigga cannot share his richness with anybody.all HH knows is blaming others minus giving any solution!!
Hardly a day passes minus hearing president Edgar Lungu donating this and that in Zambia.indeed this man has a heart to give!!!even if its stolen money,so be it because the man shares his money with those in need.HH got rich through privatization and ended up hiding stolen money in offshore accounts instead of sharing with those in need locally!!!
WELL DONE ECL FOR DONATING K1M TO UNZA.GOD BLESSES THE HAND WHICH GIVES!!!YOUR MONEY WILL KEEP ON MULTIPLYING BECAUSE YOU SHARE ON WEEKLY BASIS WITH OTHER ZAMBIANS!!!
i can never vote for the so called rich HH who…
Njimbu, when Daniel Minkombwe got ill recently, hh and gbm rush to see him with cameras. But when he needed specialist treatment in RSA, it was ECL who authorised GRZ to evacuate him. hh and gbm gave him nothing!!!
There we go again.. more Zambian beggar mentality… Classic
@Bululu;a person who gives or helps others do not care whether what gives will be used properly or not.when you give,it means you have done your part and God blesses you for that.whatever the person you give does,is none of your business!!!but by saying this,am not saying unza management should misuse donated funds,no.they have to ensure that funds are used properly to improve facilities at unza.
People who give such as Edgar Lungu,its just in their blood to give and do not attach any conditions to their donations.even GBM is a great donor and he does that to many Zambians minus giving any conditions.BUT THE SELFISH AND GREEDY MAN WHO DO NOT GIVE ANYONE A NGWEE IS KAINDE(HH)!!!ask anybody in upnd if HH can give you even k10 minus working for it!!SUCH A PERSON(HH) SHOULD NOT BE BROUGHT…
@14, donors are monitoring their donations. Lungu is under pressure from donors including the IMF to act on the perceived corruption in the procurement of fire tenders which many people believe were massively overpriced. The IMF has since shelved plans to lend Zambia money due to alleged corruption in the purchase of fire tenders and reckless borrowing on $1.2 billion to construct a short dual carriageway from Lusaka to Ndola. Experts state that the construction of the dual carriageway has been overpriced by 70 per cent.
@6.1 (Samuel Chonya) NSCS,
Are you really a qualified Charted Accountant? and a RESEARCHER??? And yet you CANNOT make head and tail that Lungu is referring to Tax payers’ money in KK’s time, in Mwanawasa’s time, and now in his time? And have you researched how many companies and business HH has helped other Zambians start, in some cases in partnership and at a great expense and risk to him? How many Companies has Lungu successfully started in his personal capacity? How many students and schools has Lungu sponsored in his personal capacity?
Do you even know that ba late Sata, when he instituted an investigation on HH’s alleged wrong doing, he not only drew a blank, but discovered this massive support HH was rendering to the community silently as he still does now. Or, are you one of…
Cont’d … Or, are you one of these sincerely ignorant morons, who are insulting King Cobra’s character, day-in-day-out by implying that he found wrongdoing but was too afraid of HH to prosecute?
Samuel, what context? fimo muletekanya pakulanda. As an Accountant, if you really are, you must stick to objective truth. , you must have ethics.
Awesome! More hostels. I remember my UNZA days, Kuma ruines, over looking the Monk’s square, then moved to the hostels near the girls hostels (Kafue and them if I can remember). I graduated in 1988 and i like the UNZA Alumi book. I would love to buy it. Where can I get it? Is it possible to make it available at the Zambian Embassy here in the USA? Because I believe my name will be in that Book and it something I would love to keep for my kids and their kids….I Love to pass, like the way my parents did, history to them new generation.
Well done Lungu. But then again, you have highlighted how foreign donations have made a difference at UNZA citing the many countries you have mentioned. How come we are failing to sponsor our young people via bursaries when there is a significant saving already made?
My gut feeling is that an anonymous donor has used Lungu’s name. I cannot imagine Lungu donating his own money for nothing or maybe for votes in 2021.
Every donation made to UNZA is welcome. UNZA has produced some of the best brains in the World. Some Graduates have even ended up working for NASA. Others ended up getting Distinctions in Physics at Postgraduate level in Europe. Abasungu Ukudabwa. I was in Africa 6… Near the APG.
UNZA & others should publish a Bank Account number where anyone who wishes, can go & deposit some money. There are anonymous donors who don’t want to be ridiculed, after doing a noble gesture. More such ex-Alumni ventures should be encouraged. Those who contribute, are better than arm chair critics.
The issue of UNZA is above Politics. When you travel to other Countries, you find yourself being taught or treated by Z Graduates. Countries like Cuba have thrived by exporting Graduates. We just need to find a way of getting back something to plough back into our Economy.
if Ananias and sapphire can only give out K1m as offering, I just wonder what more they have stashed somewhere.
Whereas we can condemn the fact that Adolf did not attend this function despite being a product of unza please let us not be blind to that fact that there are some under privileged students Adolf has been sponsoring even as far as university education. It would have been great if he had gone for the function we can understand that he loves to move around with Fat Alber his new found friend and at times pastor pole pole but since both are not graduates from they might have felt out of place. It was a fairly good occasion i was hoping to see mwiimbi, nkombo, Kakoma to name a few of our colleagues from that once great institution
Let the rich and political elite donate.
1.1 Chils why can’t ECL donate K1m when he is presumed to be the most highly paid in Zambia that is minus allowances. But what you should know is not every one has got a giving hand, there are a lot of sticking rich people here in Zambia who can not give out not even a single coin to the poor. Thank you Mr. President 1m will go a long way.
Good job Mr. President. HaSpaka will tell his uncle to get something from Paradise too.
“I know that president [Kenneth] Kaunda did something about the university because he had no choice, he needed graduates. ” Ma setting.
I just love the president’s suit/tax. Very debonair. Perfect shoes too!
Politics aside, what president Edgar Chagwa Lungu has done needs to be recommended. I say thank you Ba Edgar Chagwa Lungu. I am a student at UNZA myself and to hear that gives me hope even if I will not benefit as I am in third year but however it’s imperative that the future students will. This will lessen students to students exploitation and currption when getting rooms at UNZA. Now my humble appeal or request is to see to it that students who are not accommodated be allowed to stay with the pals who are accomodated without paying squatting fees to fellow students who are accomodated. Thank you once again Ba Edgar Chagwa Lungu and the ‘others’ who donated. God bless you.