President Edgar Lungu has arrived in Gaborone, Botswana to attend the 35th Ordinary SADC Heads of State and Government Summit which convenes tomorrow 17th August, 2015.
ZANIS reports from Botswana that the Presidential Challenger Jet carrying the Zambian Head of State touched down at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport at 15:48hours local time.
Newly appointed Defence Minister Richwell Siamunene and the Presidents Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda are accompanying the President.
Botswana’s Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture Thapelo Alopeng, Zambia’s Acting High Commissioner to Botswana Wesley Chikwamu and Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Kalaba received the Zambian Head of State.
Others included the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Siazongo Sikalenge and other senior government officials.
And as part of his engagement while in Botswana, President Lungu is later this evening expected to meet the Zambians resident in Botswana.
Tomorrow, 18 August, 2015, President Lungu will be among the SADC Heads of State who will be attending this year’s Summit.
Zambia’s participation in this year’s 35th Ordinary SADC Heads of State and Government Summit reaffirms the country’s commitments to the ideals and objectives that of SADC whose establishment was pioneered by among other countries, Zambia included.
During the Official Opening of the 35th Ordinary SADC Heads of State and Government, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, who is the SADC chairperson is expected to handle over the SADC Chairperson’s Badge to the Incoming Chairperson, Lt. Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama, President of Botswana.
This year’s SADC Heads of State and Government Summit is being held under the theme: “Accelerating Industrialisation of SADC Economies through Transformation of Natural Endowment and Improved Human Capital.”
The Summit is expected to review progress made since the last SADC Heads of State and Government held in Zimbabwe, 2014.
The deliberations, among others, will also focus on the Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap, and the Finalisation of the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2015-2020.
Other issues to be deliberated on will include the region’s political, socio-economic development issues, regional integration, budgeting, human resources and administration and the implementation of decisions passed by previous Summit.
Member States that arrived today are Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho while Zimbabwe arrived yesterday.
The SADC Heads of State and Government Summit convenes every year, usually in August but can convene at any time depending on the urgency of issues that may arise.
The Heads of State and Government Summit which is SADC’s highest decision making body, adopts decisions, elects the rotating SADC chairperson ever year and appoints the executive secretary.
The 35th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit is expected to close business on Tuesday, 18th August, 2015.
From Botswana where is he going. Edgar Ulendo Lungu
Thats why he has no time to think about ZESCO
The huge entourage is disturbing for me.
Thanks
Bb2014
Hahaha ati Edgar Ulendo Lungu…lol
kid in a candy store!….ka lungu should have been minister of international travelling
IN-TRAY at STATE HOUSE is full. He has had to give up defence ministry. Next he should just say STATE HOUSE is to big for him and we will understand.
Welcome home to Kalahari Mr. Xi Lungu…. still acting abroad in “The Zambians Must Be Crazy” PF comedy!!.
This utterly lazy bum Edgar is so useless as a Head of State that the only thing he can successful do is being air transported from point A to point B and dance at the destination tarmac!!
Hopefully he will learn how a desert country has more cows than us, has no lungushedding and has said no to Mugabe antics. An average Motswana earns almost 17 times more than a Zambian and here we are ifintu ni Lungu! Blocking roads on way to airport when he could easily use a chopper like the old man Sata did (mhsrp). Edgar, please come back with a vision…
You can not force a lazy bum like the Chawama boy Edgar with no vision to have foresight and become a workaholic overnight…just like you can take a donkey to pond to drink water but you can not force it to drink water.
Look at his face that’s the highlight of his Presidency flying to anywhere and by election campaigning….Edgar Lungu is useless!!
Globe trotting he learned from banda.
Regional-trotting can’t go any further. No one is interested in a guy called CHAGWA.Never heard of him. What has he done.
He has copied plenty of bad manners from Rupiah. Next He will steal all our treasury.
I hope this dull useless lazy bum Edgar learns a thing or two from the Swanas about saving gov’t resources, here he is being welcomed by a mere Minister of Youth,Sport and Culture, in Zambia its the whole cabinet of empty tins and defence chiefs at the airport…to top it off the President even escorts his counterpart to the Airport like the lazy bum Edgar did with the Malawian President two weeks ago.
Your friends in Botswana are well off and successful for a reason you dull thing Edgar!!
The man has failed completely.
Lungu seems to be hovering around ZAMBIA’s neighbouring countries for STATE visits which shows his cheap capacity as a President with ‘no teeth’ to take on real worthy international state visits to real countries that will put ZAMBIA on the centre of the international scene. Even then he’s always welcomed by lesser ministers because heads of STATE of the ‘small’ countries’ he visits are too busy for him. They know he has less value and he’s just making cheap allowances. The CHINESE visit he undertook, his major one was SATA’s project he needed to fulfil. BWANA President stay home and assert you position as .a real leader then other real STATE visit requests will just be flowing. German Chancellor, PM Cameron, Barack etc. will be wanting an audience with you if you can try and…
One kind of presidential hopeful or the guy the president has sidelined describes him as ‘BEING COMFORTABLE IN HIS MEDIOCRITY’. Well maybe he is. Meanwhile his IN-TRAY at STATE HOUSE keeps on piling for the Next president or our future generations to come and dealings with. RB Do you want this chap to fail or do younot care. Chagwa is backwards in moving ZAMBIA forwards.
You are all very shallow minded chaps, this summit is for Heads of States “Presidents”. You stupid tongas.
This is not a story naimwe ba LT Someone flying from point A to B is not news unless there’s great risk in the journey. It is probably what we would call a filler. People travel between lusaka and gaber one everyday
Trip justified. SADC is a regional body and it would have been wrong for Zambia to be represented at a lower level. Besides, staying away from Botswana and its good President when President Lungu and PF leadership have been to countries led by dictators would have sent wrong signals.
Botswana is a good country with good politics and economy. The President of Botswana is down to earth. He got on very well with the late President Mwanawasa and together they stood up to Robert Mugabe. The Kazungula bridge project was mooted by Botswana and Zambia.
Please, President Lungu, make friends with President Ian Khama. He means well. Mugabe was a fearless freedom fighter, but unlike Mandela, he clung to power to the cost of Zimbabweans. Sad. Let Mugabe retire and please, Zimbabweans, remember…
Let Mugabe retire and please, Zimbabweans, remember to forgive him as he forgave the late Ian Douglas Smith, former Prime Minister of Rhodesia who retired at his farm where he late died of natural causes at a ripe age. Those who care to recall the history of the liberation struggle know that the mere mention of the name Ian Smith sent shivers in the spine. So many Zambians including members of the security and defence died at the hands of Smith’s well trained elite forces. Many Zimbabwean freedom fighters and refugees in Zambian and Mozambican bases were killed during the 1970s ans 80s. Yet Mugabe did not prosecute Smith. He honoured the pre-independence agreements to spare those who were in power during the liberation period.
Mugabe fears to vacate power.
I hope Chagwa will also learn how Botswana keeps it’s cities and towns clean besides having an a buoyant economy that is not dependent on borrowed money. But how come he was received by a youth minister instead of the president or the foreign affairs minister?
Forgive me everyone but let me give the coach and technical committee of the Zambia national netball team a one ngwe advise. They did well to go to the World Cup championships and they played well in some gains. But they need to train the ladies to learn to score the with more than just one hand and also from a far too. Since netball is similar to basketball, they should train them to shoot from a far too. They should learn from other teams like Trinidad Tobago or New Zealand. They should review their plays and see how they waste the ball because they can’t score from a far. The ladies should also be told not to use too much ambi or the skin lightening creams. They look so artificial than all the other black players. I know we can’t stop these women from lightening their skins but use in…
I know we can’t stop these women from lightening their skins but use in moderation is ok than the way these women are overusing it. Everyone can tell on TV that they’re using too much skin lightening creams. For improved playing and with Malawi and South Africa as good teams nearby, the players should be exposed to more friendly matches with these teams. Maybe, the team should also have a female assistant coach. They should seek sponsorship for some players like Jere, Bamda, Chingambo and Bwalya etc in British, New Zealand and Australian clubs. What do others who saw the matches think.
Is it a new Vasco Da Lungu or is it David Chagwa Livingstone exploring this poor African neighbourhood? Too many trips bwana.
#Tumbuka pride, which country is doing better economically? How many Tswana’s are in Zambia looking for work? Which of the two countries depends on foreign aid to balance up it’s books? Yes Changwa is travelling too much but SADC is vital to Zambia as long as he does not take too many useless ministers or cadres to waste tax payers year.
You mean between Zambia and Botswana? Botsanw off course!! It is a dry country but they have managed to use their few resources wisely.
In case ka Lungu does not know International diplomatic etiquette, I will teach him.
If you are the head of state visiting another country and the head of state of that country does not meet you at the airport but instead sends one of his subordinates, it’s known as a “dis”. Short for disrespect. Or to put it bluntly, an insult.
ha ha
Tickled as always.