COMMERCE, Trade and Industry Minister Emmanuel Chenda has urged Zambians in the diaspora to share professional knowledge that can help the country develop.
Speaking at the 49 th Independence Day celebrations at the residence of Zambia’s ambassador to Ethiopia Susan Sikaneta, Mr Chenda urged Zambians to work hard and share professional knowledge that could help the country develop.
According to a statement by First Secretary for Press and Tourism at the Zambian Embassy in Ethiopia Dorcas Chileshe, the Minister said Ethiopia was one of the African countries benefiting greatly from foreign investors.
Mr Chenda, who is currently in Ethiopia to attend a meeting of African Ministers of Trade, graced the independence celebrations where he said Zambians could learn from Ethiopia on how to engage more investment to boost its economic development.
And Mines Deputy Minister Charles Zulu appealed to Zambians in the diaspora to educate their children on the meaning of independence so that they could appreciate the country’s history.
Mr Zulu said that Zambian children needed to know that the peace which the country was enjoying was fought for and should not be taken for granted.
He also advised Zambians in the diaspora to invest in rural parts of Zambia and not only in Lusaka.
And Ms Sikaneta commended Zambians in Ethiopia for the unity and spirit of team work.
She said it was gratifying to see Zambians in Ethiopia teaming up to contribute resources towards Independence Day celebrations.
“The spirit of one Zambia one nation is real and everyone is contributing to lifting the Zambian Flag higher,” she said.
She said Zambians in Ethiopia were a good example of a community ready to support Government’s programmes.
Learn from what happened to Prof Chirwa
Oh yeah! It’s still very fresh to the mind!
Get lost Chenda, who wants to waste his time with you buffoons!
True!
Please consult Prof Chirwa before you follow Chenda’s advice!
Otherwise you will be engaging in a futile exercise!
Zambians are a peculiar people!
Prof. Chirwa had it coming. The man is ultra pompous. He had and still has bright ideas which can transform the rail network in Zambia but his practical un professional ways of conducting business led to his downfall. No one failed him but himself.
1+1=2 bane & not 3. Stop the tribalism nonsence in the govt. aw do u expect Zambia to develop when you av all burried your heads in the sand & only av them raised in Muchinga??. Am almost feelling embarassed of being Bemba coz its only them singing that there is development evrywhr jst coz of wht they r seeing in Muchinga. This nonsence will kick you out of govt coz Zambians r biggr thn Bemba Muchinga gang
Get lost Chenda, who wants to waste his time with you buffoons!
How does Muchinga come in? I thought the topic was about those in the diaspora sharing knowledge on how we can develop Zambia.
Shame on you Jessie.
Just read our blogs for now. You’ll surely find many great ideas.
……from just a handful otherwise we only read ‘professional insults’ from the majority and not ‘professional ideas’ as demanded by the minister.
some bloggers here need to grow up.
In exchange, will you grant us dual citizenship? The thing is that wheter you grant us dual citizenship or not we will continue to be of service to our country. Its not like our contributions begin now after you tell us. We have been contributing all this time despite the undeserved contempt and löack of appreciation we get from home. Anyway, dual citizenship NOW!!!
Dual Citizenship is not for sale. This is how corruption is encouraged. Dual Citizenship is a Constitutional matter that we the people of Zambia will give ourselves. It is our right to constitutionally change laws to suit us.
The Government can only enforce what we agree as our laws in the new Constitution.
Hon Chenda since CEEC is under your ministry, could please ask DG Mukumbuta to shade more light why its taking long for CEEC to disburse the funds, we have waited for this exercise to commence, so that we start putting things in place to setup our small rural industries. We want to start recruting and if possible train our machine operators. PF govt is being accused of not creating jobs cause of such delays.
Its important to follow carefully and understand the Global investments structure and players and follow the ratings transition and avoid falling into a Ponzi scheme where we fail to swim back ashore.Establishing sovereign sustainability in Financial Engineering within is the way otherwise we fall to schemes and fell to float back ashore
Understand the rating transition and we will establish proper policies and go back to the shore
What is your point?
Ba Jonathan , you cannot even explain your point well what a share waste of money sending you for a degree! What are you trying to say?
Que?
what kind of nonsense is this??what did you pf chaps do to Clive chirwa?am not sharing anything with this no it all characters we have in government,you are there to eat as you said yourselvz.
This is political rhetoric. The government does not sing from the same hymn sheet and does not act in synch with what it says. The head of government on many of his visits had categorically labelled all living in the diaspora as failures. Many professionals out have and are willing to give advice or technical input, but this can only be given if the receipient values and utilises that information. When its clear that the receipient exhudes an air of who-do-you-think-you-are, then the giver of the information withdrawals as the whole exercise is futile. Until this attitude of disrespect and suspicion is corrected many Zambian professionals will continue to be hesitant in offering advice.
Is this chenda mentally sound, I doubt. I say so because it is long ago when Clive Chirwa was thrown into police custody for sharing his knowledge. Only those who so stupid not to see the writing on the wall. You have a government that is full of primitive people who use there bellies to think instead of brains, just like this chap chenda. It is inconceivable to imagine that people can try to embarrass another person for wanting to share there knowledge. My message to you diasporian is go back to Zambia to share your knowledge and experience at your own peril. Zambians not yet ready to learn from those in diaspora, that is why there still embarrassing chirwa.
Tamunfwa even on simple ideas. You always have a hiden agenda. First clear or fake imitation products from the streets dumped by your China. All expired products. Zambia has becom a dumping ground of all rubbish from all over the world because of poor and corrupted tenderncies in your ministry. Wake up Zambia. Bring back the inspectors and quality controllers. Stop getting third class products and services. 49 years still having baby teeth! Time to grow Mother Zambia. Stop believing that everything from outside is first class including the so called investors.
And they think that they are better than the Zambians who are in the Diaspora are inferio simply because those based at home in Zambia are able or own those expired cars from Japan etc and cheap house hold goods.
Most of the people in the diaspora are eager and some even willing to give back to mother Zambia in terms of knowledge and financial investments. However, the hatred for the Zambians in the diaspora by the Zambians and even relatives who remained back home is unbelievable !!! The moment you get back, the immigration officer is the first to ask you questions like “why did you leave us ?? or “what went wrong in Zambia, that you decided to leave Zambia” ?? The look upon you with great envy and hatred if are not willing to share how you managed to settle abroad to enjoy life ! They never envision that you are there working your ass off so that you can send money home !!!
After the uncivilised manner in which PF Govt handled Pro Clive Chirwa’s ‘quest’ for developing our rail transport system, one would have expected a more win-win plan and strategy to restore trust and attract Zambians living abroad to invest in Zambia. But alas nothing. Still no plan, no strategy, nothing. PF Govt thinks investment happens simply from the blues so long as Sata decrees it. But then again, to expect PLANNING & STRATEGISING from PF Govt would be expecting way too much. This is a joke of a Govt.
Mr Minister, if you want our knowledge, begin by accepting Prof. Chirwa’s contributions.
As a matter of fact, he has even pleaded with you not to discard the plans he had put in place for ZRL.
Unless you properly utilize that knowledge, don’t waste time by asking people to come and get their contributions rubbished by the Zambian “Pull Him/Her Down” mentality that has permeated every sphere of our life. This mentality is in both religious and secular life. Other countries use their well traveled nationals very well and profitably. In Zambia we corrupt our enlightened people.
We need a national reflection and a change of heart and mind.
It’s actually not that bad on the ground. People do want the help but have lost hope and not too many supplying direction. Politicising everything remains the largest hurdle. But when one dips below the surface there is a vacuum that could be filled by diasporas knowledge although you will require thick skin, the patience of a saint and tongue biting stoppage of thoughts as the nation glorifies and ignores that it is being sucked of wealth by foreign entities who are filling gaps which are mistaken for progress at the expense of the nation. To see your own beauty is hard when you are a diamond in the rough dreaming of shining. How to make people believe in putting in the effort is the real challenge.
How when Zambian dual nationality is still an issue? This Government should stop looking only at Zambian that migrated from Zambia to live abroad, but what of those born in the Diaspora and keen to respond to this call but the thought of having limitations in your own country is obviously instrumental to putting our eager dual nationals off…
Spot on!!
We will never forget the chriwa debacle…none of his plans have been taken on board apart from his salary.
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, South Africa, India, Canada, Australia, USA, etc have dual citixenship
But not Zambia………………….!!
Follow the footsteps of Prof. Chirwa, and they will throw you into prison! Learn from what happened to him. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Mr Chenda sir with due respect, in case you haven’t heard, your boss does not want diaspora knowledge or ideas. You’ll be fired, if you continue talking like this. Thanks for the offer but no thanks. The foreign country where I live is happy to use my knowledge and ideas. No sane being will heed your call till sanity prevails in your government. If you need diaspora input, submit a written request like everybody else and be prepared to pay expatriate fees for my diaspora ideas, seeing as I’m not regarded as a Zambian in your government’s eyes. You want to lure us to Zambia only so that you can humiliate us? If you have nothing to say, Just chant your party slogan, “Donchi kubeba” .
Very true…..you are just tooting your own horn in order gain merit less points for PF. My question is “what can my country do for me(us)? We in the diaspora have acquired hands on as well as international highly skilled training/education ready to transfer back home. However, shortsightedness of past and especially present politicians are not creating any incentives enough to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). Streamline business registration,licensing, land acquisition etc, pull a page from well oiled economies like Botswana, Hong Kong, Singapore Dubai, South Korea etc. don’t try to reinvent the wheel Zambia…..it is already round.
Lots of professionals will answer the call when a respectable and responsible govt is installed. The savage and traumatic treatment Prof. Chirwa received is still fresh in our minds. You would have to be completely stupid and insane to heed the minister’s call at this moment in time.
When Zambians see shopping malls put up by foreign investors, they think that’s development. Those investors are just busy symphoning our foreign exchange
Spot on… people need to wake up malls is not value added development!!
We hear that most Zambians go to these shopping malls only to “virtual shop” since they need to keep up appearances ! They cannot afford these malls due to lack of money in their pocket ! In the meantime, Shoprite, Spar, Pick’ n Pay is sending money back into the South African economy !! The diasporans (with dual Citizenship) can afford to invest their money into Zambia, in various sectors of the economy. Besides, the various businesses, supermarkets and shopping malls that will be fully-owned by Zambians would stimulate the Zambian economy on its way to growth ! Dual citizenship is the way to development and Nigeria and Kenya are the best examples !!! In a few years time, Nigeria will surpus South Africa as Africa’s economic Powerhouse !!!
How can the PF govt engage with people that they do not properly recognise? The truth of the matter is that the UNIP govt educated a lot of people, many of whom are involved in responsible positions abroad. It is foolish for the current govt to ignore this resource which is available. Many politicians do not want to engage with these high calibre individuals due to jealousy and other petty reasons. We have individuals in banking, medicine, technology etc, who could advise and work with our elected officials. Unfortunately this opportunity is being ignored and our country continues experiencing high levels of poverty and social injustice
It definately feels good to belong to a country which has esteem for it’s people’s input and participation in nation building, no matter where they may be scattered accross the globe.
There will always come a momment when you feel like “giving back” to your country what you have gained over the years away from home. Many bloggers are quoting Prof. Chirwa’s case but I think it is absurdity to conclude that the same fate will befall everyone else. There are a lot other success stories of Zambian businessmen and women from diaspora who are making things happen in the country.
Give us one example of those successful stories. Again my might come to how you define success.
name two
Dambisa Moyo and Kalusha Bwalya – why don’t YOU join the list?
Dambisa does not work or live in Zambia and what exactly has Kalusha done?
We want Mushota to replace Sata, Madam President.
What is this nonsense now?
Chenda may mean well or it is just the usual impressing talk. In Zambia the culture of engaging professionals is just never there. People will stamp you and your ideas down just at the first place. It is even so hard to get a place for research or just to use a govt ministry as your case study for masters or phd theses. The people in diaspora may have very good ideas and would like to contribute but the environment in Zambia does not simply support this call, unfortunately!
Mfumu, your comment is right- on. You made my day. Can your president learn something from such bloggers please!
These guys are crazy . Ethiopia has dual citizenship. unlike us their country loves them!! tupeleni dual and everything else will be given unto you!!