President Rupiah Banda says Zambia is capable of becoming a developed country if the Zambian people have confidence in what they do.
And President Banda says Zambia has got a lot to learn from Brazil, a nation that was under-developed to an industrious nation it is today.
Mr. Banda observed that the world is watching Zambia in what she is doing but expressed confidence that Zambians have the ability to turn around things using the abundant resources available.
Mr. Banda says Brazil has developed tremendously in her key sectors of the economy such as bio-fuels to become an industrious nation to what it is today largely because of the unity, hard work, huge investment in key sectors of the economy as exhibited by the Brazilians.
Mr. Banda was briefing Journalists in Lusaka today shortly before he departed for Brazil at the invitation of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
He said there is need to invest in the agriculture, education, health and infrastructure for Zambia to rise to greater heights.
“The whole world is watching us as a country and what we have done. For example in Brazil, we are interested in bio-fuels in that country as you maybe aware that Brazil was under developed but has became an industrious nation within a short period of time,” Mr. Banda said.
He further noted that Zambia and Brazil enjoy warm and cordial relations which have lasted for many years now.
He said that though, he as a Head of State is receiving accolades from the international community on Zambia’s achievements, there is more to be done to propel the nation forward.
[pullquote]President Banda has said that PF/UPND pact leaders Michael Sata and Hakainde Hichilema who have been condemning his trips abroad would also be traveling if given an opportunity to be head of state.[/pullquote]
President Banda said Zambia needs to invest more in the agriculture, aviation, education and health sectors of the country.
He disclosed that while in Brazil he would take an opportunity to open up linkages and woo Brazilian firms to invest in Zambia to help the nation develop.
He further said that government will bring a number of airlines in the country as well as expand the Lusaka International Airport to transform and improve on it.
Meanwhile, President Banda has said that PF/UPND pact leaders Michael Sata and Hakainde Hichilema who have been condemning his trips abroad would also be traveling if given an opportunity to be head of state.
Mr. Banda said his travels to other countries have greatly benefited the nation and they were a result of Zambia being recognized and respected by the international community like Brazil and not of his own making.
“Any respected country will be invited and this is exactly what Brazil has done and I’m happy that my colleague President Lula da Silva has invited me because he promised that before he leaves office he would invite me to visit there,” the President said.
And Mr. Banda says he has also been invited by South African President Jacob Zuma in December, this year as one measure of strengthening the bilateral ties that exist between the two countries.
Mr. Banda will be in Brazil for a four-day reciprocal visit, following the invitation by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who visited Zambia in July this year.
While in Brazil, President Banda will among other things tour Dedini, a company which is the largest bio-fuel equipment producing company in the world.
President Banda will also address a Brazil-Zambian business forum which will be held in Sao Paulo.
He will on Thursday hold talks with his counterpart, Lula da Silva, in Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil, and might later meet the President-elect.
Mr. Banda will also pay courtesy calls on the president of the chamber of senate and the president of the chamber of deputies and the Supreme Court.
The Zambian and Brazilian government will also sign at least two agreements in different fields.
Mr Banda’s advance delegation includes Minister of Foreign Affairs Kabinga Pande, Minister of Mines Maxwell Mwale, Minister of Livestock Bradford Machila and Deputy Minister of Commerce Lwipa Puma and other senior government officials.
President Banda is expected to return home on Thursday evening after concluding his visit.
ZANIS
I agree with you Mr. President 100%. This is issue based pronouncements we need which the opposition (particularly PF) is allergic to.
Continue making the nation proud Mr. President. The Zambian people (with the exception of some lazy disgruntled bloggers who, if PF govt had to win, would go back to Zambia so they can sit and do nothing because Mr. Sata promised them free money) are behind you.
but why did you leave dora ba kateka
RB is very right! we have the ability to develop only if we become united from family level up to national level. The problem we have is that, we keep on condeming Political parties for failure to unite when infact the smallest unit in our society has failed to unite meaningfully (our families are not fully united). I have realised that, if u can unite as a family with different strengths, you can achieve alot & if 40% of our families where united in Zambia, this country can be developed. We are now at RB’s throat becoz we have failed to develop as families.
“Mr. Banda says Brazil has developed tremendously in her key sectors of the economy such as bio-fuels to become an industrious nation to what it is today largely because of the unity, hard work, huge investment in key sectors of the economy as exhibited by the Brazilians”. You are forgetting wise and honest leadership that puts interests of the people before personal pockets, Mr Banda.
Zambia is far from becoming a developed nation even if Zambian people have confidence in what they do. its a kind of leadership style and leadership behaviors that Zambians have no confidence in. For instance, the money that is spent on presidential frequent flying can be used instead on fixing the housing problem at UNZA, improving the local hospitals so that ministers are not sent abroad whenever they are sick, road network etc.
Cosmetic leadership is very dangerous. Leadership entails that you pay attention to details in the management of the nation eg employment levels of the nation,standard of living for the citizens,morturity levels, education levels,etc. I wonder whether the president looks at such.
Please can someone in senior leadership eg Dr Musokotwane stand up and tell this president that he has become a liability to the nation. His flying around is too costly to the nation. Does he even know the importance of technology like the internet, vedeo phones etc which is a cheaper way of doing business other than his old way of doing business.
our only concern is the budget of travelling. Just this thrip has clobbered 2.8 trillion kwacha. Now in a year, how many times has he travelled? How much money will we spend. That money could liberate millions of Zambians wallowing in poverty.
Real patriot i believe he does because he has made reference to joc creation many times, he has talked a loy of education and even health standards All those areas that you mentioned are receving serious attention in this years budget.
#9 Anne dont lie, this trip can not clobber 2.8 trillion, that is like 15% of our governments budget . Come on dont lie >
And dont you know that international diplomacy is part of a governance> that is why every country has a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and it always an important ministry ( number 3 in most cases)) And the trend is to have forieg policy controlled exclusively by the President
typical of zambians the man is talking of unity and here you are condemning every move just where has this taken us to let the people do their jobs development takes time the problem is you think when sata comes in money will suddenly appear unity pipo tuyende pamozi
This time around you are right chi nyama soya but you wont impliment this. U’ve made enough kobili for your farm.
What is RB going to do in Brazil? There has just been fresh elections and a new government has just been installed and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is in South Korea attending the G20 summit. How do you invite someone to a country and you leave? Isn’t that a signal that you don’t want your guest! This man (RB) just has a propensity for travelling! He should have been at the G20 to convince the industrialised countries about investments!
MB 13#
Are you 36 hours behind your watch. The G20 Summit has finished.
MB 13#
By the way G20 stands for “Group of Twenty “Industrial Economies.
I suppose Zambia is not among the top 20 World Economies
Travelling and working hard are two different! Honestly, does one need to be travelling to realise that most of the so called bumper harvest will go waste! This is just a “clean” conduit to hammer government money in terms of allowances! All of sudden everyone seem to be travelling for it is follow the leader syndrome! If you go to cabinent office you find that some people have flown out for some conference, go to some GRZ training institution you find that someone has flown out and the circus continues!
Well development wont happen with just talk, talk and more talk. growth has to be planed for! we expect increased economic activity and expect to transport everything by road (no rail), we still have 1 problematic refinery, compounds are allowed to grow unabated, the list is endless.
the only time Zambia will develop is wen the people of Zambia vote out mmd and vote in the mighty PF. bwezani has failed to run this country.
this president has completely gone MAD ! this is why my party is behind PABWATO ! VIVA SATA
You silly people give praise where praise due. This is very good news for Zambia. See where you have been. Things are getting better. Look around in Africa. Things are dire everywhere. Do not get cheated by those Politicians that promise you better living standards. They just want to get elected so as they get their filthy hands on the money, like they have always done everywhere else in Africa. Give RB a chance. The problems in Africa are deep rooted. They cannot be solved overnight. Do not suffer from the usual African disease of believing the opposition who normally promise the earth but never ever deliver. It has been about 60 years since the first Africans became INDEPENDENT. Most Africans are still living in squalor. Zambia, for the first time, is showing signs of good economic…
YES Mr President, I totally agree with you Zambia can become a developed country knowing we have the abundance of natural resources and ideal human resource. However, Zambia would never become developed with the likes of you Mr Lupiya Banda. I pray somebody advises you to abort your second term bid and that you heed. Wishing you well in your retirement and farm life.
Dreamland again! Corruption is the biggest stumbling block to development.It stifles growth and funds disappear from Government coffers too! Get rid off this “Bamba Zonkwe” mentality first before talking about development.A Nation’s resources are for the Nation…not for the pockets of Officials.If you do not learn this simple fact of Economics…dream on…
I am shocked that some people here truly believe RB has some idea of how to develop the nation. Does he even understand the definition of a developed nation. The Man is gone completely “kuku”.
God help us.
Not surprisingly, he has put the onus on Zambians forgetting that leadership is a very important component of this whole development business. I think Zambia and Brazil are totally different and one of the biggest differences is that Brazil did not have a corrupt president like RB. Zambia will one day develop but it is a pipe dream to think that the transformation will occur under the vision less leadership (lack thereof) of RB.
Wrong mr president,abundant resources are always secondary in dev’t.It is more mental.Many places have resources but aren’t any better.When in a hole you stop digging.What bold changes are you making for this to be reality if we keep doing the same things that got us nowhere?If you couldn’t engineer turnarounds for zamtel,zambia airways,LCC then how can you talk of the same on a more grand,more complex scale at national level?No,zambia is nowhere near serious development.
# 20, I just came back from Zambia less than two months ago … you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. It is easy to say things are ok if you spend all your time at Manda Hill and Arcades, I was in the boondocks … Mutendere, Kalikiliki, Chainda, Kaunda Square, Ng’ombe, Garden, Chawama. You go to those places and tell me that you think things are getting better. Economic indicators that you so drink like cool aid do not mean squat when unemployment is still at 80% and everything on the ground is actually deteriorating. There can be a real debate on these things but RB does not believe in anything other than lining his own pockets … the truth will come out. God save Africa.
If you think PF can develop Zambia, try them and you will see. You might even think of bringing back MMD. The only politicians who seems (even them are men and could be corrupt) to be trustworth but are not fairing well in politics are Miyanda and Magande. The rest are crooks. Try them and you will cry within a short time after voting them into power. Maybe we should think of putting a woman as preisdent in future otherwise I don’t see anything good anytime soon.
understand that the world as whole has improved and the africa particualarly has benefited a lot from developed country. now the problem Zambia hade government with people at heart could have done better. Bad indicators are corruption in health sector which is donors money and lot of money dashed out during campagning. zambia could do far much better if the government was working when the copper prices world market has improved should benefit.
Mr president you are in the driving seat. why not demonstrate it, now words just mare words cannot do anything first clear the groung and have a political will remove all the corruption
we zambian should learn from the past Even time in chiluba people realised thing are bad when they lost they job becasue companies where. this county was given lot money form donors by then if Chiluba was not self could have seen a different zamnbia. president have duty to move for rb is too much. who can tell me have heard or read in history the country developed because the president was all over the world.
maize is wasted because no money for tents
hospital are bad lacking medicine you have to buy
notern western and western many parties use fuel for power you how it cost
roads are terriibling bad wiil be surface when campagn begins bad not all
During campagning lot on money is dashed where is from tax money of course
Brothers and sisters go to northernwestern and western provinces you will understand that we are still far to development country is not lusaka only most buidings, roads and hospitals we made or construted by missionaries in the time of Kk. And the mass media only report more about places which do not need much resources this places. Zanis only report want the distance commission want have example of mwinilunga. Western province most projects are runned by the catholics
Jealous down!
Ba Sata na ba HH are salivating for these trips, especially their wives. The trouble is the trips will be double. There will be HH trips and Sata trips, that is double the tax payers’ money. Sata and HH will want to recoupe the millions of dollars they have invested in politics to become President. Thank God that we have a President who has not spent a single ngwee to be Presido! So he cannot be in it for asset recovery.
# 26 Wisi Boyi
i was in zambia last month, i too went to all those places mentioned. You are right they are not like hear in the UK or were you are in the US. But by african standards, zambia is doing ok. No one starves in zambia. We have a growing confident middle class, and eployment is at near record levels. Even those pipo from those combonies derss smater then most brittons. They youg laddies with there tight jeans are a shining example of true african beauty. These days in those very combonies i was suppried to see youth in bicycle clubs with mountain bikes. belive it or not, but true.
Trips are necessary as long as u dont go and imbalance us as begger in the 21 st century.the key word is that as zambians we need to WORK dont expect miracles especially church goers.even countries which dont believe in our religion develop so miracles rale do they work 4 development its about pipo working.Its very difficult to believe in a country with all agric resources tomato can be sold K2000 one then it means few tomato in the country.and pipo say no jobs when u can change that land and make some kwachas by cultivating tomato.not all can be in offices after all in offices its bad,ur own garden u ve control.development is not accidental and RB should as well not expect a miracle is plan.combat corruption,invest in education,force pipo to work coz human beings are lazy naturally,inpire
#2 Milar Bj, follow Dora on Facebook. She’s in Brazil as we speak. Thank you.
#31 opness, your Engrish is holibo!!! Use Bemba, I’ll translate for u
ZAMBIA United Local Authorities Workers Union (ZULAWU) general secretary Noel Kalangu has condemned United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema for threatening Livingstone town clerk Dras Neves over the continued suspension of councillors.
And Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) president Charles Mumena warned politicians against interfering with the operations of local authorities.
Mr Kalangu said in an interview yesterday in Ndola that it was wrong for Mr Hichilema to attack Ms Neves and appealed to politicians to desist from trying to win political mileage over the suspension of the council.
He urged politicians to refrain from politicising the suspension of the Livingstone City Council.
“What happened is wrong and we condemn Mr Hichilema for what happened at the funeral. Funerals are supposed to be respected, we attend funerals to pay our last respects to departed ones and not to attack and warn others,
“Politicians must not win political mileage over what is happening at the Livingstone City Council, they must not politicise the issue,” he said.
He said it is unfortunate that a leader can threaten someone at a funeral over issues which can be discussed at suitable places.
That is all sata can think of using his brain for-condeming these trips. The other day we had a senior Pact member Mr nkombo comenting on inflation projections. All he could think of was awarding of contracts to reduce inflation. If the pact had any capacity to lead, they would be advising GRZ on bio-fuels to help cushion the price of fossil fuels. I am not an economist but i am sure such projects would help. This pact chaps are hopless. no solutions at all only insults. Sata Your MPs were blaming local GRZ for floods last year, now funds have been relised, lets see if you can get off you backsides and do some work. Try to ingnore insults for once. Being opposition dosent mean insults dayindayout, you still have to serve the pipo.
#13 MB.
I like you analysis, except you have the dates wrong for the G20 Summit in Korea. It closed on 12th November 2010.
Of-course Zambia like any other country has potential to develop but not MMD.
Wisi Boyi, like your comments!
#4 wise and honest leadership is a given in any development. He cannot say everything in a short space of time while answering questions from journalists, remember that it was not a rally or official opening of parliament. If you follow his pronouncements at various fora and occasions, you will see that H.E.R.B. gives us a message of love, unity, development and hard work all the time in order to encourage us to soldier on. If you want to be part of Zambia’s development, or even to be healthy, take time to read or listen to some positive news. Human beings are known to deteriorate in their thought, health, strength of character and initiative if they are constantly fed with negative stories all the time. But the choice of what you swallow is yours.
I ADVISE ALL YOU ZAMBIANS STILL IN ZAMBIA TO LEAVE! THATS A SINKING SHIP BANE! I HAVE BUSINESSES IN ZAMBIA AND I AM CLOSING THEM DOWN SLOWLY! VJ RIGGER SHOULD BE BANNED! HE THREATENED ME WITH VIOLENCE! LT DO SOMETHING BEFORE I LOCATE THE IMBECILE AND PUNCH THE BRAINS OUT OF HIM! IF U HATE NDALYA LIVE, THEN HAVE YOUR MICROSCOPIC BRAIN CHECKED! U MY FRIEND ARE MENTALLY RETARDED!
What surprises me about some Zambians is that they believe that some of the opposition leaders who speak loudest about corruption will actually fight corruption when they are in power and deliver honey to the people of Zambia. Wake up Zambians and look hard at some of these so called opposition leaders. They are snakes in the grass, and some have not hidden that fact from you, they even display it because they know that you are too blind to see the meaning.
Chimbwi no plan
ruphia banda is the travel terminator!!!! coming soon to stores near you
atleast this trip makes sense.i agree with you Mr. President,Zambia can develop if only our resources are put to good use.fight corruption at home and the international community will respect you sir.
Has anyone been keeping track of RB’s trips including the ceremonies for the past 2 months. I need those dates and events for my research project I am working on. Thanks in advance bloggers.
RB, better than Chiluba, but Mwanawasa was best, thank you
Marco Polo. Chiluba gave you multipartism and Mwanawasa made him look bad. Mwanawasa was bad. Chiluba was excellent and Marco Polo – poor!
He (RB) has now started informing the Zambians of his travels in advance so from Brazil, he heads to South Africa. To him this is good enough.
I have no problems with RB travelling around the world in his capacity as republican president. Now if it was Sata, iyee mayo can you imagine the embarrassment he would be causing to the nation with his uncontrollable mouth and thuggish behaviour?
RB is a Chibwi No Plan CNP for real
Instead of just talking from other people’s countries, why isn’t he talking to Zambians and asking for our input in developing our country. RB, you say we need to invest more in agriculture, aviation, education and health sectors of the country. Are you getting Zambians to invest or is this another case of holding out our begging bowl? Be serious…
” Zambia capable of becoming developed – President Banda ” – and now I’m off to Brazil.
DELETED
The goodness with zed is that any fool can be president overnight and become comander of the armed forces, what a joke. i am seriously contemplating becoming a soldier and await a frog for further instructions. Perhaps i shall become disciplined.
Ok if you are douting just imagine shikapwafimo making a strategy for you in the war front, be rest assured you will never come back, better a private does it instead perhaps you can survive, such is RBs pridicament, sorry mwe bantu. But Dora is necessary for refreshment after a hard days work, those red lips perform miracles.
A question to bloggers! How united are your families? how much success have u recorded as families? hIf you have nothing to show, then dont think RB can give you development, it takes the unity levels from family level to the top!!!!
Its not cutting on travelling that will develop this country but unity, focus & hard work of every Zambian and not RB alone.
How focused is Sata and HH if they can failto agree on simple matters and even before election???? What we are seeing now in an example of numerous problems we shall see when given power, ecause by now they could have been educating the nation about how they shall correct the percieved ills. Mazoka presented a parallel budget, what have these two presented so far!!! only insults while RB is talking about unity & love.
Visiting countries will not bring development to Zambia. I remember how numorous trips by Unip officials were made to countries like China in the name of learning how to develop Zambia. During all this time China has made 1million strides in development while Zambia as done the same in the opposite. You need your own ideas to develop Zambia.The Brazilians or Chinese have moved forward because they have used ways suitable for their countries. Please MMD dont justify your trips by telling us the impossible.No one taught our ancestors how to preserve fish by drying it, they realised by them selves that food can last if you dry it. So even now we can do it without travelling 1000kms to steal ideas which are unZambian.
To develop u need a good business environment. BP Zambia plc was yesterday sold to Puma Energy of Switzerland, meaning one investor is running away and another coming. We need a stable environment for investment to develop.
I see that Zambians are complaining a lot about RB travelling. I live here in Namibia, Pohamba travels a lot, thats the job of a president The only thing RB should do is to share responsibilities with his Vice, finance and foreign ministers, they can be representing him at less important functions. I know he was in Caprivi last Friday, that was important because Mugabe, Khama were also here. Brazil trip is important also but less important gatherings, Kunda can go.
#63 that is correct, e.g. Mr Kunda just came back from China last week.
RB is suffering from jet lag and so he is not thinking straight. Please do not insult us with such rubbish, mudala we have had enough already.
This time I agree with RB 100%, only if he and his band of thieves STEP down and return all the moneys stolen from the treasury. RB and his band of thieves should be tried for Treason.
Zambia is respected because of your travels? Please give me a break RB, are you listening to yourself? in one breath you have managed to insult the Zambian people, justify you many escapades with the Challenger and sound like a egotistical buffoon. How do you do it Mr. President? No wonder the monkey urinated on you because even they knew that you were d-u-l-l and useless from the beginning. This is really a sad day for Zambia.
The question is, does Rupiah believe in the abilities of Zambians?! If he can answer this question sincerely and honestly, then I might believe the crap he is preaching. Because all investment/business policies of his administration seem to favour foreign entities more than local ones. Foreigners are in Zambia to make a buck, period!!!
For as long as Zambians remain economically dis-empowered, we can all forget about meaningful development in our country. No foreigners have gone to another country and developed that country. This is true in Brazil’s case, the country he is now praising—Brazilians themselves had to do it. It is a crucial aspect in any nation’s “developmental equation” that you need to ask your ‘brother’ De Silva about!!
Fellow bloggers, don’t ever make a mistake of telling Ruphiah to come to your home, even if you’re just JOCKING, you will be disapointed that he will come when you probably just talked about in mention and took that as a Joke.
I felt highly ashamed to read about the people who recieved HUMPTY DUMPTY in Brazil. Besides Brazil’s Ambassador to Zambia, the rest where Zambian Ministers. Shows even the Head’s of States from other Countries seem to be fed up of his travels.
Don’t ever ask HUMPTY DUMPTY for a visit, even if it’s a Joke. Akesa pofye
RB has only tought Zambians how to be lazy and steal with no conscience for the benefit of a lifestyle which is surreal even for leaders in other developed countries and ….how can any leader develop his own country when he is never in the country ,on a smaller scale i have never seen a business that is successfull when it’s management are never present and involved with the functions of the company.