Lusaka Mayor Miles Sampa has issued an apology to the Chinese Community and other leaders. In a statement released to the media, Mr. Sampa said that he had reviewed events last week and over the weekend as regards his monitoring and conduct towards some business houses and accepted his error in judgment of physically going to the business premises instead of engaging relevant offices and institutions.
Earlier Local Government Minister Charles Banda came out strong threatening Lusaka Mayor Miles Sampa for closing down abusive Chinese owned businesses, adding that it was unacceptable for some officials to unilaterally to cancel licenses because Local authorities follow laid down procedures when awarding trading licenses.
Dr. Banda said that revoking of trading licenses should not be done anyhow, saying officers designated by Town Clerks are the ones mandated to take such actions and added that appropriate action will, therefore, be taken against all council officials that have acted outside their mandate by revoking restaurant and barbershop business licenses awarded to Chinese investors.
Below is the Full Apology from the Lusaka Mayor
Statement by Miles B. Sampa, the Mayor of Lusaka.
Wednesday 27th May 2020
I wish to review events last week and over the weekend as regards my monitoring and conduct towards some business houses.
I accept my error in judgment of physically going to the business premises instead of engaging relevant offices and institutions. I can give guidance but the actual execution of revoking trading licenses for any trader or business house that may be found wanting or in breach of any law of the land that needs to be done by relevant offices and institutions.
Above said, I wish to apologies unreservedly to the following:
-
- The Chinese Community in the City of Lusaka and beyond for the tone and language used towards one of their nationals in particular on the use of the word ‘Chinaman’. I did not know hitherto that it was derogatory term but they have since lodged in a formal complaint against my use of the word. They demanded that I render an apology. I therefore sincerely apologies to all the Chinese people. My calling is to respect all human beings be it indeed or speech regardless of their race or nationality.
- I render my apology to All Other Leaders in whose jurisdiction my actions may have interfered with and put their office into disrepute. I give them my assurance hereon to always keep to my Lane and Mandate.
- Finally, I wish to assure all foreign investors in the City of Lusaka that my office is there to support their businesses 100% and where we will feel they is misconduct or breach of laws, we shall engage them in a more civil manner through relevant offices and institutions.
I thank you and God bless us all.
Romans 12:18
“Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone”
Miles Bwalya Sampa
Mayor of Lusaka
27th May 2020
Shame
Lusambo goes around beating up Zambians and foreigners for partying and doesn’t apologise. Sampa closes two Chinese businesses for racism and ‘detention’ and he is the one apologising! I don’t know who is fooling who here. But I know who the losers are! Its the people that voted for these kaponyas!
Ba Mayor you don’t know the meaning of Chinaman?Ask Simon Mwewa Lane!
That Simon Mwewa Lane social media commentator buffoon equated the term China-man to a black man being called Nigger, what utter bull, does he understand the origin of the most offensive term ever assigned to any race on the planet? This term was used towards Africans who where shipped by force from Africa as cargo and sold as property to work as slaves. To this day the African America has not fully recovered from this abuse. To equate Chinaman, an impolite reference to abusive Chinese, to Nigger is totally unacceptable
He!He!He!He! Zambia the real Africa. Foreigners have taken centre stage. They can push owners of the country with impunity. It is a shame that locals have no say in their own country. If I were Miles Sampa, I would have just resigned for doing the right thing. Posterity will judge us harshly with such kind of leadership that we have. No wonder, Zambians have started taking law in their own hands because current leadership does not support them. In the absence of credible leadership, chaos is inevitable.
I said it that Miles Sampa was behaving like rabid dog and some PF cadres were celebrating.
Here we are, the law must be applied to. You can’t go round attacking and closing duly registered businesses without the legal aspect. That’s wrong.
Chinese businesses must have been fined or penalized if they were found on the wrong side of the law. Simple as that.
Don’t bring street type mentality in governance of our country.
PF must go!
Is this what it has come to? A Mayor apologizing for doing his work. The Chinese have really taken over this country. They are more powerful than the laws of the country and the people?
Really Miles, I was rooting for you. It’s sad that someone above you has asked you to retract what you said and did last week.
If the government cannot help you, burn down their warehouses and businesses. Don’t kill people. Killing people is never a good thing. But setting on fire every Chinese business is okay. It’s not arson. It’s a human reaction to an oppressor.
Another confusing article about who should be apologizing here. I feel the Chinese violators of human rights should be apologizing to the Zambian community and not the other way around. Basta!
Did Miles Sampa choose the right channels? Maybe not, but bottom line is he did the right thing.
Coward!
Yes ba Miles sampa please stop acting to the gallery.
As a leader consult before you embark on such crazy expeditions.
Your late uncle Michael sata made the Chinese his campaign rhetoric, but after becoming president, the Chinese nationals resident in zambia were the first nationals invited to state house.
Afterwards KK was sent to China by sata as goodwill ambassador.
Abuse of Zambian workers is not by the Chinese only. Zambians are slaves to Lebanese, Somalis, Boers, Indians, Pakistanis etc.
What you did Mr sampa is racial profiling.
Like the same way African Americans and Hispanics are treated in the USA
Well done Miles Sampa for tendering the apology, my view is that you did the correct thing to admonish those Chinese for their racist behavior, however you should have stuck to that than you telling them things like this Covid started in your country and other things, much as it is true it started there you cant blame the local Chinese in Zambia, the lesson here is that council inspectors need to wake up and do their jobs, also the Zambian workers abused by the Chinese must report and continue reporting them, overall mature apology especially for the other things you brought in the conversation with them which might have been unnecessary and uncivil
When we tell you that you are slaves to the Chinks you think its a joke every Zambian has Chinese branding on their backs…all those sonta overpriced infrastructure you think its free…its had to stomach but we have told you. Thomas Sankara warned you and you didnt listen, Simon Kampwewe warned you you didnt listen.
I even told you people that voting for a PF Mayor would not yield any results …what Lusaka needed was an independent or opposition!!
Look now at the PF Rambo dullards…..all playing for cameras without thinking
Next look out for lungu grovelling to the USA at the treatment of Ambassador Foote
PF are like steeet beggars attacking the same public who feed them,
PF and lungu can not Survive 6 months without foreigner aid ,
Ok now remember when i said he doing it for attention seeking and brown envelope….typical African leadership….Chinese are lining up with brown envelopes bribing Makaka mentally retarded Mayor Miles Sampa
Anonymous – Sampa is PF he was handpicked for that office by the same corrupt PF…so you dont expect him to turn around and bite the hand that feeds him. The whole system is corrupt to the core but if we the people of Zambia dont do anything in 5 years time your children will be prostitutes and slaves for the Chinks
Talk about tail between your legs … It’s a shame really..
Why take it back Miles? It was the right call n more needs to be done, now the Chinese will think we’re as soft as wool n will resume the same mal practices. Personally, I am disappointed with you. Be firm brother.
Chinaman!!!!
How much was in the brown envelope?
Zambia is now for the Chinese. Their debt hold has move grip than our voters cards.
Very sad.
Did the Chinese apologize to us blacks for mistreating some of our own in the country? Denying them food and accommodation which is a basic human need? The same blacks who have gone to their country to earn a living and were paying for goods and services in their country? Yes we should not promote bad behavior but correct all the wrongs accordingly. I never heard a single Zambian official rebuke the treatment of Africans in China. But we have been quick to apologize for less.
He was just doing this for publicity and popularity . Council officials go about doing their duties silently not with a horde of cameramen and reporters.
Sampa was biting the finger that feeds the PF hence the rebuke from senior people in the government and party. Now in as much as law needs to be followed has PF ever done so before? clearly not, they do things and later want to dununa reverse what they did e.g illegal ministers staying in office. Zambia is China Zone now. Covid-20 will come from Zambia
Its shameful for ba Miles Sampa to apologise whn you did a good thing for the nation. The Chinese hv become a thorn in the fresh, they do anything bad things to black people, ad it’s very shameful that are with the Chinese, who didn’t put them in power. Whr on this earth whr u can a foreigner be supported? It’s only Zambia, ad this killing because of those leading us. They are all peppet on a string attached to foreigners not to Zambians who voted for them. Zambians hv become foreigners in their own land.
But know tht, come 2021 all those supporting foreigners, will see who’s going to vote, a Zambian or a foreigners.
Very disappointed with Zambian leadership, our neighbours Botwasna, they are cleaning up, but here foreigners are angels.
This is what we call latest news!!
It’s time for everyone to calm down. Tempers were spiked because of damaging social media actants working up Africans about China maltreating Zambians/Africans. This lead to a heightening of events where locals went out for blood.
It’s been very sad to see horrible racial abuse to Chinese on social media by Africans in the West.
We should be grateful for their investments in Zambia, they helped us and unlike large Western Mining conglomerates, they have not been selling up, closing down and running away. Mayor Sampa, was carried on a stream of these emotions but he was not wrong to act only it was not procedural.
Sampa have u apologised because the Ptesident ignored u.
Bery unprincipled.
Do u know that u were in the right defending your people.
How could u cow down because I want to appear accepted.
My friend those of us who lived in china can tell u that in their country they not apologise but just issue a mitigation statement.
This mayor is so suspect. He can’t even string a few sentences together. It’s just beggars belief that he can video himself making a fool of himself without full consultation with his advisors and his boss. Now watch how these Chinese will step up their abuses of our people. Our government is indeed held hostage by China.
Ukutemwa inkongole ba lungu so China threatened you ati we will withhold our loan offers and demand payment for old loans now stop harrassing our citizens naimwe mwabinda. Ba sampa what wrong did you do? nothing but you’re busy apologising for finding out that Chinese were doing illegal things in Zambia. Is this your country or China’s? Zambia and Hong Kong no difference?
Who will liberate us from this colonialism?
Seer1 was right when he said they Scattered Miles Sampa’s brains! The chap has no Spine!
What an id!ot this Miles Sampa is to apologize for doing the right thing. Seer1 was 100 per cent right. Sampa’s brain has been scattered. Seer1, where are you? So what you said about damaging Sampa’s brain was true ???
Corrupt people stand for nothing…they can sell their parents and children for a song…this is what borrowing money does you are enslaved to your paymasters…we warned you 5 years ago. Did we not warn you?
Miles Sampa congratulations for apologizing even if you were right. No normal person can support such behavior. In normal circumstances Charles must have gone to Miles in privacy before coming out like that. I think the president must tell PS and Minister discussing issues in privacy when they have a different opinions. I is well known in social sciences it’s very difficult to agree on matters unlike engineering. Especially Charles and Bishop Chomba his PS too much. ………..
Sampa’s appology has embarased charles, because he never did any wrong,God bless you miles. Kz come back soon.
Miles you made a point by exposing mistreatment of Zambians workers on own land by Chinamen. Leadership is all about standing up for the good of your people, the marginalised, the vulnerable and the poor.
What was the point of fighting for independence, when 56 years later down the line to be yet abused by foreigners and held hostage in our own Country?
The workers you helped free from those deplorable conditions will for ever remember your good gesture together with their families. You did us proud comrade and gave us hope that within this desperate situation there are still people like you. Protocols may have been overlooked, but message was loud and clear. Kudos to you mate!
Next time someone says I HAVE NO VISION! please vote for them in large numbers..
This is undoubtedly the worst time in Zambias history.. Shame..
Cowboy antics will never go above professionalism. Miles, Bowman and Steven are a letdown. You bums are embarrassing GRZ and the party. Just like the way ZP are harrasing people drinking.
By apologising, Miles Sampa is publicly admitting that he is INCOMPETENT.
Everywhere in the world the verdict for incompetence is INSTANT DISMISSAL
Am disappointed with these cowards leaders we have in Zambia . How can centimetre Sampa appologize to a foreigner who practice racism in our own country . That is the reason why even a rat like Seer1 stands up and insult the Government because he knows that this country we are cowards.
What a mess! If the issue is the ‘wrong process or procedure’ that was carried out, when is the right one going to be instituted? Clearly laws were broken and people were abused. Admonishing Sampa, whether rightly, should not be an excuse not to take any action or pander to the whims of ‘investors’.
Some P.F officials, starting with the Corrupt Gumu -gumu Ch@lesi Banda are celebrating today & popping the Champagne, as the Chinese have offered lots of U$ D’s in brown envelopes for protection.
I also feel some powerful people @ the top of the P.F food chain, saw M!les getting popular & they cannot have this so close to the P.F convention.
N
Meantime #P.FMUSTGO!
Why does LT like censoring me?
We have had no leadership in this country. Obviously the Chinese officials visited State House and our so-called leaders quickly placed their tails between their legs. We still expect robust and sustainable action against all forms of abuse of Zambians at the hands of ‘investors’. Oh, I forget very quickly – we have no leadership.
If you had any doubt that Zambia is now a full blown Chinese colony, and is totally under Chinese control, there you have it. Even you PF foooools, you better kiss Zambia goodbye. Whenever you see leaders beginning to side with foreigners over their own people, you know that you don’t own the country anymore. You PF fooools, your children and your children’s children shall grow up as slaves in their own country, because of you traitors. This has emboldened the Chinese to mistreat Zambians even more. This is a tragedy to say the least. They say Mayor Sampa should’ve followed procedure. But we all know that there’s no “procedure” in Zambia. especially with labor laws. There’s only slavery going on in Zambia. Because if there was any labor laws accountability, these Chinese…
… wouldn’t be locking Zambians up like slaves, and no one says anything. The only one that dared to speak up on behalf of the poor tormented Zambians, is censured, muzzled and silenced by the these Chinese puppets, traitors, sellouts who are now clearly enemies of the Zambian people. Is this what our founding fathers bled and died for to free us from colonialism?
This makes sad reading!! Sounds like a forced apology. Miles did the right thing by standing for the rights of the Zambian people. Perhaps change the channel he used, otherwise the situation with the Chinese abusing Zambian citizens must not be condoned by any means.
This apology is tantamount to gutless capitulation by Sampa. We all knew his Chinese-captured boss Chagwelatu Lungu was not going to commend him – he was bound to slap him down for taking that principled stance. Sampa should have opted to do the honorable thing of resigning as opposed to capitulating like this! It’s terrifyingly shameful to see the whole entire Governor of the capital swallowing his own vomit like a rabid dog. That’s why I will never trust these Bemba-Wannabe Bisas like Sampa and Nkandu Lunyokolola, they’re stinking spineless jackals, kunya! Sampa will soon realize pandering to Chagwa is toxic for anyone’s political career.
Time to get rid of these nonsensical PF bandit government…no principles….no values and they dont know what they stand for….i knew he was doing it for the Cameras….attention seeking is the root cause these days….and i said it that Dora Siliya faked COVID 19 for attention seeking and a publicity stunt…and yes she has been exposed by Anonymous….useless pompwes fake chimbwis…makaka gumu gumu Kaizar Zulu..
China hasn’t apologized for how it’s been treating black people in China and even in Zambia as Miles exposed them. I see no need force him to apologize. Miles you did us proud, may they learn from their mistakes.
The voice of the voiceless has shot itself in the foot. Chinamen are celebrating this unexpected outcome, so fiseni imbwa na bapushi before they end up on a braai stand.F**k Chambia, we want our Zambia back.
Awe shuwa. It is like they get to be shown aberrations wherever they go to discuss these things. Remember how Joyce Nonde came out of Polo restaurant looking like someone had shown her snakes with legs? Something is amiss in this country of ours. The second wave of st.upidity that others called colonialism is upon us fam. It is.
Miles personally you have disappointed me.People congratulated you now you sink so low.Why the apology?Now these Chinese and other foreigners will take advantage of your weakness.Is it Charles Banda who threatened you? What a disgrace.Shame!
So how much where you given to issue this statement ?
@Lie-Detector I can’t agree with you more when you say that time is coming when Zambians shall be working slavishly for the Chinese. I’m greatly disappointed with this PF government with the way they are handling the maltreatment of Zambians by Chinese in their own land. And the only purported angel and savior of the poor has apologized today without even mentioning the misdeeds of the Chinese. God come to our rescue.
We are slaves in our own country. So these China men will continue subjecting Zambians to slavery working conditions because they know that they have the protective hand of Government. Poverty is a curse. Very unfortunate
Miles seems miles away from maturity. He likes behaving like a spoiled teenager yet he is the Mayor of the Capital City of Zambia. Lusaka residents and Zambians deserve better than this behaviour. The other day he was quarelling and trading insults with street chaps who in my view came out more reasonable than him.
I like Miles very much, and I know he has potential to be a good leader but he has to live and learn; for that here is my simple advives to him. While it is a noble thing to apologise, it is always good to think through things and issues before you act to avoid being found in a position where you must always apologise. Otherwise, people will take you for a joke, and guess what? then your poitical career is scr-ewed. own up and put up dude.
Yes, Chinaman is derogatory! It was coined by white people when they described Chinese as the yellow peril and as dogs. Do you guys really think Zambia has the same power as China? You need to press for better understanding between Chinese businesses and the Zambian community. Stop insulting the Chinese. You folks owe them some gratitude for the Tarzara railway. The Chinese do have a rough work ethic that their own people are subjected too. They have worked very hard to get to the top having been abused by white people. You don’t expect them to come easy on you? Stop reiterating western racist propaganda against them. The Chinese have never been Africa’s enemies. Learn from them if you can. No, Covid-19 did not originate from China. That is fat lie Trump is telling the world. Some…
Power if brown envelope and deep rooted corruption….these PF bandits only do things for their own pockets…so next time don’t be fooled by attention seeking antics….and we dont even a so called President in Zambia…Lungu is useless…Sampa has some mental health issues
No wonder no one takes Africans serious…we have no spine….Mugabe,Gadafi,Thomas Sankara,Kwame nkhruma were the only leaders with balls of steal….Lungu’s head is full of mbamba and lutuku….no one takes him serious and when he wanted to deliver his speech at the UN General Assembly every sane person walked out….only PF bandit cadres were left in the audience
And notice how HH also is very quiet….no wonder i have no faith in any Politician…they’re all puppets of the west and the east….they cant provoke their pay masters….
He apologized for the sake of his salary only. Most of us black Africans lack integrity. Otherwise if he had any integrity, the best would have been to either resign or stick to his guns.
Well MIles did not follow the law when dealing with those Chinese issues. We have always been preaching to these kaponyas to stick to the rule of law and not take any matters into their own dirty filthy hands. We all know the Chinese were very wrong but you do not need to succumb to their ignorance and idiocy in to punish them or correct whichever it is he was trying to do. Now he looks silly and shallow with his apology after all the applauds and clapping from the fellow kaponyas. This apology to the Chinese means business as usual which they are used to anyway.
Miles, next time please follow procedures wanvela? You are embarrassing yourself for doing the right! Guys learn to have b*lls of steel! Ba Chalesi naimwe, you can’t be issuing investment licences yama barbershops idyats! All the way from China just to come and play with people’s heads all in the name of barbing! Very useless and clueless governors!
Firstly: Good to see that Mr. Sampa has rendered an apology. It is important to take responsibility. If the damage was serious resignation should have been the ultimate.
Secondly: The rule of law has to apply. Under no circumstance should such things ever happy again. This is a big lesson for all in power, please follow the law.
Sampa you are a PF sellout
The post news paper you closed despite the cries of the people who were employed, prime tv you have closed without giving ear to the complaints of the fellow zambian people employed by them. up to now you have kept Prime TV going in circles and denied many zambian people the opportunity to watch their loved news channel. Chinese shops that abused a black man and zambian by the way you are quick to have them open and continue operating. Firstly is barbershop the kind of investment you allow in Zambia for foreign investors? You have destroyed businesses for opposition members and have favored foreign people, given contracts to PF caders who don’t know the job and you wonder why Zambia is not doing well economically?