Zambia’s President leaves for New York on commercial flight with three delegates

Lusaka. Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has on Monday left for New York to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly with only three delegates.
He was seen boarding a Qatar Airways flight last night with the three officials.
He is accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Stanley Kakubo and Finance and National Planning minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane.
The 76th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly would run from September 20 to 26, 2021.
The theme for this year’s UN General Assembly is building resilience through hope – to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people and revitalise the United Nations.
Kakubo said President Hichilema would deliver his maiden address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Kakubo indicated that Hichilema would participate in high level summits like the 2021 SDG moment, the high level dialogue on energy, the UN food systems summit and the global COVID-19 summit.

“In addition, the President will pay a courtesy call on His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, United Nations secretary general and hold several bilateral meetings with other world leaders, including the President of the European Council, His Excellency Mr Charles Michel,” Kakubo said.

“During this visit, the President is also scheduled to travel to Washington D.C. where he will hold a historical meeting with the Vice-President of the United States of America, Ms Kamala Harris.”
Kakubo further pointed out that in line with the government’s vision of turning around the economy, promoting trade and investment, among other strategies, President Hichilema would also hold meetings with the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
He said President Hichilema would further engage with prominent and influential Congressmen and women as well as Senators at Capitol Hill in order to share Zambia’s vision: “under the new dawn administration.”

“Other engagements during this important visit to the United States include the US Institute of Peace, the US chamber of commerce and the Africa Business Centre where the President is expected to project the vision of the new government in addressing the aspirations of the Zambian people,” he noted.

“These high level engagements with strategic partners and think-tanks are important to ensure that the New Dawn Government achieves its goal of economic transformation underpinned by Peace and Security through the consolidation of bilateral and multilateral relations with countries and institutions of key interest to the Republic of Zambia.”

He also indicated that the government remained confident that President Hichilema’s landmark visit would translate into tangible benefits for ordinary Zambians.

President Hichilema and his delegation are scheduled to return to Zambia next Monday, September 27.