Mr Kampyongo who was this morning featured on the Patriotic Front Interactive Forum at Chrisma Hotel observed that the actions of Mr Hichilema to continuously refute and recognise the democratic election of President Edgar Lungu and forcing people to share this view is treasonable and the law will soon visit him.

Mr Kampyongo said the primitive, selfish mind of Hichilema is stirring the country into anarchy and his ministry would not sit back and watch this happen especially that world over President Lungu has been recognised as the President of Zambia even by the highest body the United Nations.

He said it was the ignorance of Hichilema that is blinding him to expect to be allowed to be given a police permit to hold a rally and attempt to sway people that President Lungu is not President.

“He is asking me as Minister to allow that permit when he does not recognise my appointing authority… And if he goes on stage and tells people President Lungu is not president how will the many people who voted for President Lungu react…. it will be chaotic, he needs to come down and sober up,” Mr Kampyongo said.

Mr Kampyongo warned, “You close to him, go and tell them Kampyongo has said anyone who breaks the law will be dealt with firmly but within the confines of the law.”

He went on to observe that it was probably the lack of experience and knowledge if the operation of government causing Hichilema to act in certain mannerisms.

He said said it was clear that some of his followers who have the know and experience have not fallen into the ignorant reactions he has stirred such as requesting his members of parliament to abash the state of nation address in parliament by the head of state.

Mr Kampyong applauded lawyer and long time saving member of parliament for not following blindly and noted that some of Hichilema’s members of parliament who are lawyer’s are now giving excuses such as; “I was attending a funeral but I was following the proceedings of parliament on television.”

He noted that opposition leaders such as Edith Nawakwi, Mike Mulongoti, Godfrey Miyanda despite being critical of government have a distinction from Hichilema’s headless behaviour as they understand operations of government, parliament and extensively all three arms of government.

In a statement unveiled to the media today the 1st April, 2017, Southern Province Police Commissioner Bonny Kapeso said Maybin kakoto,32, a driver in Chief mungaila of Namwala District, village Hakalimamushi, was arrested yesterday at Choma town Centre’s Maamba Bus Station.

The commissioner was quick to mention that kakoto faces several criminal charges by the Police relating to his conduct during 2016 general elections period and will soon be taken to court and he will remain in police custody as the law enforcers are still doing their investigations.

He also noted that southern province Police officers have been commended for rising above board in arresting several suspects who have been on the run as this will create confidence in members of the public to trust and believe that their lives and properties shall remain protected without fear or favour in the province.

On 27th January, 2017 the police also arrested a 36 year-old master minder identified as Dickson shanshimbula mukalanga of maala area, chief mungaila in Namwala District as some perpetrators of the vice were already arrested and had since appeared in court.

This was after Southern Province Police Commissioner Bonny Kapeso after had issued a seven-day ultimatum to Namwala police acting officer-in-charge on 24th January, 2017 to arrest the remaining suspects or face consequences.

And 5th march, 2017 Police in Namwalahad yet again arrested another 2016 post-election violence fugitive identified as clement musulwe, aged 31 of maala village chief mungaila of Namwala District southern Province.

“Maybin kakoto, 32, a driver of village Hakalimamushi, chief mungaila of Namwala district, was arrested yesterday at maamba bus station at Choma’s town Centre”

“Kakoto has been elusive from police dragnet following numerous reports of political violence during the 2016 post-election violence which left many people injured and their houses set on fire”

“Kakoto faces several criminal charges by the police relating to his conduct during that period and will soon be taken to court after police conclude their investigations while he remains in police custody” Kapeso said

Meanwhile, Police Spokesperson Esther Mwaata Katongo responding to press queries from Journalists who wanted to know if the Police have challenges to arrest masterminds in other areas where the post-election violence was equally perpetrated especially in Lusaka the country’s capital city, she said the cases in Southern Province are not the same with those cases in other areas in the way perpetrators executed them.

Ms. Katongo has since explained that the mode of operations is different and she affirmed that all thepost-election violence cases that happened in Lusaka are still active.

“Cases are not the same in the way perpetrators execute them. Mode of operations is always different. All those cases that happened in Lusaka are still active” Ms. Katongo said

Today’s Scripture

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
(Ezekiel 36:26, NIV)

Choosing Your Heavenly Heritage

In life, we all have negative things happen to us. We go through situations that are unfair. I know people who were raised in an unhealthy environment. Their parents had issues, and now it’s making it much more difficult on them.

But here is what I’ve learned: when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, He gives you a new heart. In other words, your bloodline changes. No longer are you subject to your earthly heritage, you become subject to your heavenly heritage! His spiritual blessing always overrides the curse in the natural realm.

When you understand who you are and what God has already done, then no matter what someone else has done, no matter how unfair it was, no matter how you were raised, you won’t get bitter. You won’t live with a chip on your shoulder. You realize that nothing can stop you from fulfilling your God-given destiny! Today, remember you came from Almighty God. He gave you life. When you choose Him, you are choosing your heavenly heritage of blessing and eternal, abundant life!

A Prayer for Today

“God, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, so that I may be saved. Today I surrender every area of my life to You. Have Your way in me; let Your will be done in my life. Thank You for making me new in Jesus’ name. Amen”

The debt has been threatening co-operation between the two countries on the proposed construction of the massive Batoka power project.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, last week told journalists that the two countries were currently in discussions and could soon strike a deal on payment.

“The debt is still about US$114,8 million in interest but we have started engaging them (Zambia) on how we can pay it.
But we don’t want to discuss it in public. When we are done with our discussions, we will let you know,” said Chinamasa.

The interest component emanates from a US$70 million debt to Zimbabwe which the country inherited the debt after taking over power generation assets that had been shared with Zambia.

The debt was for the shared cost of the Kariba Dam construction and associated infrastructure during the tenure of Central African Power Corporation (CAPCO), a power firm jointly owned by the governments of Zimbabwe and Zambia when they were still part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which was dissolved in 1963.

The debt also included assets taken over from CAPCO. The US$70 million principal amount has since been paid off by the country’s integrated power generation and distribution group, ZESA Holdings.

ZESA, however, through the assistance of the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, transferred the interest component from its books to the Ministry of Finance in 2015, arguing that the liability was a government-to-government debt.

CAPCO was running the Kariba power project for the two countries but was disbanded in 1987, and was succeeded by the Zimbabwe River Authority (ZRA).

Its assets were distributed to national power companies in the two countries, which are ZESA Holdings and Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO).

After distribution of the assets, the government of Zimbabwe owed the government of Zambia US$70,807,000.

The amount remained outstanding, and Zimbabwe in February 2012 signed a new acknowledgement of debt with a payment plan.

Government then transferred the debt to ZESA Holdings saying it was the beneficiary of the distributed assets.

ZESA Holdings was, however, pressured to pay the principal amount after Zambia threatened to pull out of a deal for the two southern African countries to jointly construct the Batoka Gorge Hydro Power Station on the Zambezi River.

Zimbabwe and Zambia signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly construct Batoka Gorge Hydro Power Station in 2012, with each country expected to get 1 600 Megawatts (MW) of electricity from the project, a development which would help boost power supply in the two southern African countries.

The agreement on the Batoka project, situated about 54 kilometres downstream of Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River, was therefore dependent on Zimbabwe’s commitment to pay off the US$70,8 million debt.

The lyrics from a chart busting Bob Marley song,  “until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regards to race…” inspired by a 1963 speech to the UN by Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia still ring true to this day in the ears of many.

The song remains enchanting today as it was as a result of  the deep message it carries that cuts across gender, religious and racial divides, but then you may ask, why start a story with His Majesty Haile Selassie’s wisdom?

In 1965, the great Emperor stepped onto Zambian soil on a three day State Visit hosted by President Kenneth Kaunda just a year after independence from Britain.

Emperor Selassie opened the door to many eminent guests that would grace Zambian back in the day.

Relations between the two nations—Ethiopia and Zambia—remained warm bolstered by their leaders continental commitment to liberation and their collective affinity to equal rights for all.

Conversely, Dr Kaunda was accorded a State Visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1970.

Since then, visits between heads of states of the two great African countries became dear.

Forty seven years after Dr Kaunda’s State Visit to Ethiopia, however, what seemed like a diplomatic relationship long forgotten has been rekindled by President Edgar Lungu.

President Lungu becomes the first post-independence Zambian leader to host an Ethiopian head of state in the name of Mr. Hailemariam Desalergn after Dr Kaunda.

The state visit highly anticipated by media locally and abroad was set and executed between March 28 and March 31, dates that shall clearly remain etched on many Zambians minds and recorded as ‘significant’ when the history of Zambia’s diplomacy under President Lungu is written.

This is not because President Lungu broke a ‘47 year old relationship jinx’ by hosting his Excellency the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Mr Desalergn. It is important because it shows Zambia as a global player.

It’s in my view because Prime Minister Desalergn’s visit is one of the many that is becoming a common positive occurrence in Zambia.

If your perception is average, you take these visits for granted.

Critics forget that after the exit of Dr Kaunda, Zambia’s diplomacy dipped down to levels were the country was perhaps referred to mostly when there was crisis, a shortage of bathing soap or cooking oil.

Today, Africa’s second largest copper producer (Zambia) under President Lungu, a lawyer turned politician, has become a focal continental point of reference.

Steady democracy and violent-free elections top the agenda of international discussions when Zambia is referred to, even though no nation is perfect.

Zambia according to the IMF is a preferred international investment destination for many global business leaders.

It is associated to political stability, which begets investment, a budding democracy, a country and President (Edgar Lungu) that respects the rule of law. Very crucial ingredients for a greater investments drive.

President Lungu himself, emerging out of two sound election victories in 2015 and 2016, is also seen by colleagues and critics alike, as a modern time African leader that deserves their time and attention according to pundits.

As global leaders flood the Edgar Lungu Presidential Court, the international media spot-light has in turn harshly increased onto Zambia in a remarkably positive way.

Pundits are asking, where Zambia is? Who Edgar Lungu is? Including what does it take to do business with Zambia?

Prime Minister Desalergn is used here merely as a positive example of a greater good picture of what is happening in Zambia’s Economic Diplomacy under President Lungu, but examples abound.

In February 2016, we saw President Lungu score another first yet again when he became the first Zambian leader to be invited to the Vatican by the Holy Father Pope Francis.

His pilgrimage with wife Esther Nyawa Lungu, both devout Christians was described as a “major diplomatic religious coup” for Zambia.

Pundits believe the seemingly simple gesture went leaps and bounds in as far as uniting Zambians under the umbrella of Christianity and boosting unity is concerned.

This is largely because the Pope is the ‘Rock Star’ of Christianity, the religion of more than four million Zambians, and definitely a media icon (the Pope) of unquantified proportions—what he touches the, world sees forever.
President Lungu’s Holy See visit was followed by yet another invitation to France by President Francois Hollande, a ground-breaker that enhanced France-Zambia relations after a long dry spell.
These visits are symbolically and diplomatically crucial to Zambia as President Lungu personally pushes Zambia up the proverbial food chain of the global diplomatic map in my view.
At the time I did the ‘Holly See-Zambia’ or indeed ‘Edgar Lungu-Pope Francis’ analysis, only six Catholic Popes on record had held meetings with only twelve US Presidents since 1919.

Mr Lungu on the other hand became the first Zambian President, by invitation to break bread and wine with the Pope in 50 years of Zambia-Vatican relations.
In Paris, President Lungu became the second Zambian leader to enjoy an Official Visit at the Élysées Palace after President Frederick Chiluba in 1992.
As I have said in the past and I say again, for us as diplomats, every visit by President Lungu abroad, and that of other heads of states visiting Zambia is a diplomatic coup.

These visits only positively re-enforce Zambia’s image abroad and that of President Lungu.

Is it not the great thinker Vince Lombardi who told us, “the price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand?” Is that what President Lungu is doing as the Chief Diplomat?

Investors, multi-lateral and bi-lateral, put their money on what they can see and measure. Zambia and President Lungu are visible and measurable.

Of course critics abound and argue that it is expensive to host and travel, but not doing so in my view is worse. It’s better to have a sketchy plan than no plan at all.

Tanzanians today have Zambia etched in their memories because, President John Pombe Magufuli made out his first invitation card as head of state, in Edgar Lungu’s name.

The same is the case with South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Swaziland, Kenya, Mozambique, Angola, Egypt, Togo etc., whose leaders have either hosted President Lungu and Zambia or ever been hosted by President Lungu and Zambia. The que today is long.

The fact that Presidents are willing to spend more than one night in Zambia also signifies that the country has passed the global security test as a peaceful country with no terror red flags. The economic diplomacy die, in this case has been well cast.

The next step is to translate the economic diplomacy seed into real GDP that must help slash poverty, as per Edgar Lungu pledge.

As chief diplomat, President Lungu has set the tone, walked the walk and talked the talk.

It is up to the technocrats to translate the diplomacy good-will into money, for a good seed dies if not well nurtured.

Prime Minister Desarlegn may leave Zambia with great memories and in his judgement there may be no partiality to borrow Emperor Selassie words but the truth is Zambia’s economic diplomacy could only rise now.

In the United States, we saw BO or the man known as Barak Obama travel to an estimated 58 countries during his two terms in order to push for economic diplomacy while David Cameron closed his miles at 42 countries.

Zambia and Ethiopia signed trade agreements during this visit which is a great start.

In the future the two friendly countries might even discuss the need or no need for VISA requirements into the AU HQ because presently believe all African countries need to apply for VISA’s to enter Ethiopia, save for Kenya.

Free movement of goods and services could be the tete a tete between President Lungu and Prime Minister Desarlegn.

Perhaps a great way to end this missive is through an Emperor Haile Selassie inspired Bob Marley lyric that says, “that until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality Will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained …”

Economic diplomacy strides are limitless between these two countries and indeed several others President Lungu intends to visit in future, as he reshapes Zambia politics and diplomacy during his first full five year term.

This article was authored by Mr Anthony Mukwita, the Charge d’ Affaires at the embassy of Zambia in Sweden. Mr Mukwita is a former Managing Director of Zambia Daily Mail, a first prize winner of the World Bank ‘Best Investigative Journalism award’ and author of the best-selling book ‘Against all Odds-President Edgar Lungu’s Rough Journey to State House.’ He holds a Master’s Degree in Professional Communications with distinctions and has written widely locally and internationally.  He writes in his own capacity.