ZNS Olympian Chinyemba now staff seargent

Zambia National Service (ZNS) Commander Maliti Solochi has promoted Zambia’s boxing sensation Patrick Chinyemba from the rank of sergeant to staff sergeant.
This follows his successful International Boxing Association (IBA) African Night Flyweight engagement last month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the star boxer outpunched Ghanaian Theophilus Lopez Allotey, winning via a 4th round technical knock-out on August 17, 2024.

Speaking during the presentation of the victorious Boxer by the Boxing Federation of Zambia (BFZ) at ZNS headquarters yesterday, Lt Gen Solochi charged the African flyweight boxing champion to remain steadfast and patriotic in his professional career.

Lieutenant General Solochi further encouraged the newly promoted serviceman to uphold the code of conduct that governs the uniformed personnel saying it sets them apart from their civilian counterparts.

“Patriotism is more than just wearing the Zambian colours. It means being willing to die a little for the good of the country, that includes showing patience, resilience and understanding especially when faced by challenges such as delays in receiving payments or other administrative hurdles,” Lt. Gen. Solochi said.

Gen Solochi stressed the need for all ZNS sportsmen and women to always endeavour to distinguish themselves not only by their performances on the field but also by how they are able to handle challenges without resorting to public acrimony.

He also called on the uniformed sportsmen and women to refrain from unguarded social media engagements, remain loyal to the authority, maintain high levels of discipline and respect even as they continue representing the country.

And Director of Sports Freeman Kafimba has disclosed that the boxer is so far, the only twice African winner in the prestigious series organized in the format of professional boxing.

Brigadier General Kafimba said Chinyemba’s first win was last year in Tajikistan’s capital city Dushanbe where he outpunched Russia’s Artur Nagapetian in a six-round flyweight bout.
“On behalf of all sports officers and men from my branch, I am therefore proud to present before the ZNS Commander Zambia’s boxing poster boy and newly crowned IBA African Night’s champion, Patrick ‘Baddo’ Chinyemba,” Brig. Gen Kafimba said.

And speaking shortly after the presentation of the boxer and the IBA belt won, Boxing Federation of Zambia president Dan Chiteule appealed to the ZNS Command to consider exposing Chinyemba to the world by organising professional boxers both locally and Internationally to train with him for further development of his career.

Chiteule also disclosed that the boxer will in December be defending his title at a bout slated for Zimbabwe.

By Benedict Tembo