President Hakainde Hichilema has arrived in Livingstone ahead of the State Visit by Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, tomorrow.
The President is accompanied by the First Lady, Mutinta Hichilema.
President Hichilema and Mr. Kagame are expected to hold bilateral talks and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The plane carrying President Hichilema and the First Lady, touched down at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport at 13:10 hours Zambian time.
The President and the First Lady were welcomed by Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Jack Mwiimbu, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Stanley Kakubo and Southern Province Minister, Cornelius Mweetwa, the Mayor of Livingstone, Constance Mukelabai and other senior government officials.
Upon arrival, the Head of State and the First Lady greeted senior government officials that had gathered to welcome them and later proceeded to watch the dance troupe.
According to a programme released by the Cabinet Office and made available to ZANIS in Livingstone today, President Kagame will arrive in Zambia on Monday, April 4, 2022 at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport.
The two Heads of State will hold bilateral talks before proceeding for a tour at the Mosi-oa-Tunya Falls.
The two Presidents and the First Lady will then proceed to Sundowner where they are expected to have state dinner aboard the train.
On Tuesday, April 5, President Kagame, President Hichilema and the First Lady Mutinta are expected to tour the Mukuni Big Five Safaris, the Mosi-o- Tunya National Park, and then proceed to the One Stop Border Post and Kazungula Bridge.
President Kagame is later in the Afternoon expected to depart for Rwanda at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport.
Earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Stanley Kakubo has announced that the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, will undertake a State Visit to Zambia from 4th to 5th April, 2022.
Mr. Kakubo confirmed the development in a statement made available to ZANIS in Livingstone today.
He explained that during the visit, which will be in Livingstone, the two Heads of State are scheduled to hold bilateral talks that will focus on matters of mutual interest at bilateral, regional and international levels.
He said the bilateral talks will be followed by the signing of seven Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between Zambia and Rwanda in various sectors.
Mr. Kakubo said this will promote the consolidation of bilateral ties between the two countries.
The minister said Zambia and Rwanda share longstanding bilateral relations which are anchored on shared values and mutual respect.
“The two countries have continued to strengthen bilateral ties through the exchange of high level visits as well as the establishment of the Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) which is aimed at reviewing and strengthening cooperation in areas including; foreign relations, trade and industry, tourism, agriculture, sport, science and technology, information and communication technology, research and development, and gender, among others,” he explained.
He added that Zambia and Rwanda collaborate at regional, continental and international levels through the joint membership at the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the African Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
Mr. Kakubo further said President Hakainde Hichilema has emphasised the need to leverage the opportunities for intra-African trade, investment and tourism to ensure the resilience of economies and industries.
“Therefore, the visit will provide an opportunity to share best practices in areas targeted for progress. This is an important part of the government’s approach, which places great value on working openly and collaboratively with a range of partners to unlock new opportunities for the country and its citizens. The government is working to deliver a more conducive environment for local businesses to flourish and create jobs,” added Mr. Kakubo.
Mr. Kakubo said President Hichilema’s administration is keen to emulate Rwanda’s success in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) as it pursues universal and affordable internet coverage for Zambians.
He pointed out that in tourism, Rwanda has effectively positioned itself as an international business destination through its intensive marketing efforts.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation added that and Zambia remains open to creating synergies in the tourism sector.
“To this end, His Excellency President Kagame’s visit is expected to reinforce the bilateral relations, and further strengthen partnerships and cooperation at multilateral level in the furtherance of common development aspirations, based on mutual benefit for the people in the two countries,” he said.
Mr. Kakubo said President Kagame is expected to depart for his country on Tuesday, 5th April, 2022 immediately after his engagements.
Take him to Malota and Nakatindi so he can understand how backwards Zambia is compared to Rwanda
Can we see the business case of this visit? What will zambia gain from this visit vs the costs of logistics of kagame visiting? Can we be shown the benefits costs analysis for this visit? Upnd praise singers I look forward to your responses to the above questions not insults about pf or blaming pf
Comment above, no wonder you are Sipinya NDongo and not Sipalo Nyanga or something. You think if Kagame sees that nonsense you talking abt image you think he will convey to the Rwandans? The idea is to sell Zambia as a prime Destination either Investment or Tourism. And hence visitors need to go back with refreshingly devine memories to sell Zambia to their countries by word of mouth.
Take him to Kaizar Zulu’s home area of Misisi and also Chibolya to see the poverty that was engineered by 10yrs PF misrule.
Zambia is a country that is well endowed with various natural resources that other countries don’t possess, equally zambia also lacks certain resources that other countries like Rwanda possess. In this regard the visit by the Rwandan president will reinforce bilateral relations between the two countries. Not forgetting that the prevous regime had completely obliterated that relation, it’s time we mend those errors and rebuild that relationship with.
Gone are the Lazy Lungu days of 3 day state visits…
Look at the UK based impostor if only he was asking such questions when Lazy Lungu was in State House nursing hangovers every Monday morning.
PF goners still aspiring to be back at helm can be compared to someone who’s trying to swim against the tides of the Zambezi river. It’s finished bane,no more tumasaka twa ndalama. Ati what is a ka 2 million kwacha?
The Mosi oa Tunya Falls! Yessssss!!!!
HH is on the right path building bridges among African countries not what we saw during the last regime where bridges of friendship where slowly being destroyed. President Paul Kagema is most welcome to Zambia.
I hope Kagame will advise him on fuel prices and not how to suppress freedom.
@ Kaizar Zulu
Kagame’s visit to Zambia is beneficial to Zambia economy (invisible income)
Same like tourists visiting Zambia. But I fail to understand WHY you are critical of his visitation.
When Sata was president NO head of state visited Zambia… What did Zambia benefited from that??
Kagame can teach your President how to kill Zambians nothing else. So give him good welcome if your president is a good student then you will see or understand the benefits of his visit