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Rupiah leaves for Italy, England before proceeding to New York

Rupiah leaves for Italy, England before proceeding to New York
Written by Staff Reporter
Sunday, September 20, 2009 8:25:39 AM

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda yesterday left for Italy, contrary to State House reports that he was leaving for New York to attend the 64th Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

State House sources revealed that President Banda was flying to Italy for an undisclosed mission and would then proceed to England before going to New York for the UN General Assembly.

“He is not directly going to New York, he is first going to Italy and nobody knows what he is going to do in Italy,” the sources disclosed.

Last week, special assistant to the President for press and public relations, Dickson Jere announced President Banda’s trip.

“His Excellency the President Mr Rupiah Banda, President of the Republic of Zambia will on Saturday leave for New York to attend the 64th Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly. President Banda is expected to deliver his maiden address to the UN General Assembly whose theme is ‘Effective Responses to Global Crises: Strengthening Multilateralism and Dialogue among Civilisations for International Peace, Security and Development’,” Jere stated.

“President Banda and other world leaders will also attend a High Level Dialogue on Climate Change, which will assess progress in the implementation of the Programme of Action and dialogue in preparation for the forthcoming Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change.

“The President and other African Heads of State and Government will later travel to Caracas, Venezuela to participate in the 2nd Africa-South America Summit. After the Summit, President Banda will travel to Cuba for a three-day State Visit at the Invitation of His Excellency Mr Raul Castro Ruz, President of Cuba.”

He said President Banda would return to Zambia after the state visit to Cuba.

And speaking to journalists at the airport after President Banda's departure, information minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha urged the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) to engage Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chalwe Mchenga.

“They should be able to ask Mr Mchenga, Mr Mchenga has got a totally independent role in the Constitution and if they feel that Mr Mchenga should do anything about the appeal…about the case then they should go to him and discuss these things with him,” Lt Gen Shikapwasha said. “As government, we totally leave it to the judiciary and to Mr Mchenga. The government doesn’t deal with the issues of appeal, Mr Mchenga solely as DPP does that. So government has nothing to do with the appeal, it's Mr Mchenga and LAZ knows that very well.”

And Lt Gen Shikapwasha said former defence minister George Mpombo was wasting his time.

“He is wasting his time by talking, he is only talking words. The answer for him is if he has any issue, let him approach the NEC and place his position there and it will be discussed,” said Lt Gen Shikapwasha.

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA, STATE HOUSE

posted by MrK @ 7:25 AM