President Lungu to address special session of Angolan Parliament

Angola President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has invited President Edgar Lungu to address a special session of Parliament in addition to official invitation to witness the launch of the reconstructed Benguela railways on February 14, 2015.

President Lungu has accepted the invitation and has thanked his Angolan counterpart for the extraordinary honour, which he says will greatly cement Zambia’s renewed relations with its strategic neighbour on the north western border.

President Lungu says he has humbly accepted the honour, which he says is in line with deliberate steps undertaken by the late President Michael Sata, who upon assumption of power in 2011 assigned former president Kenneth Kaunda as special envoy to fully normalise Zambia’s relations with Angola.

The Head of State is pleased that his Angolan counterpart has decided to upgrade the status of the visit to include the honour of addressing a special session of Parliament, the first ever such act by a Zambian President.

The President will visit the memorial of founding President Antonio Agostinho Neto, attend full military honours and State Lunch at the Presidential Palace.

After addressing Parliament in the capital Luanda, Presidents Lungu and dos Santos will fly to Luau, Moxico Province to join DRC President Joseph Kabila for the official launch of the rehabilitated Benguela Railways.

President Lungu will unveil a plaque, get a special briefing on the Lobito Transport Corridor and later hold a joint Press Conference with Presidents dos Santos and Kabila.

In line with the re-launched Zambia Foreign Policy, the President has instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs to actively pursue “constructive engagements at both bilateral and multilateral levels” so that Zambia maximises economic gains and builds strategic political ties with international partners.

The President departs Lusaka for Luanda on February 13, 2015. The railway link is expected to boost trade between Zambia and Angola that share a huge border in the northwestern part of Zambia.

Meanwhile, President Lungu has directed Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to propose policy and legislative reforms designed to make the wildlife industry work for the poor majority.

President Lungu issued the order when he received a special briefing from acting ZAWA Director-General Mr Kampamba Kombe on the status of the wildlife industry.

The Head of State says it is unacceptable that in the vast South Luangwa National Park, there are only two indigenously owned lodges and that the entire wildlife sector chain, participation from Zambians is at a bare minimum.

The President later visited Chimfule Lodge and Mushroom Lodge to understand the challenges Zambian entrepreneurs are facing to make it in the wildlife and tourism sectors.

And President Lungu has announced that his administration will pilot a visa waiver for one year for nationals from four countries: two Asian and two European to ascertain the effect on tourism arrivals.

During the trio period, the government will undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the waiver with specific focus on the impact on security and other related matters.

On hunting concessions, the President has encouraged the ZAWA boss to adhere to the law and ensure that no single group of people is allowed to dominate the hunting blocks.

And Mr Kombe has thanked the President for retaining Hon. Jean Kapata as Tourism Minister because she has stabilised the operations of ZAWA and reduced negative publicity around the organisation to a bare minimum since she assumed office.

This is contained in a statement made available to QFM News by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda.