President Lungu committed to greater transparency
…. Amb. Mukwita assures the German counterparts
Berlin, October 20, 2018
President Edgar Lungu is committed to the fight against graft and will step up efforts to curb the scourge said Zambia’s Ambassador to Germany His Excellency Anthony Mukwita during a meeting here with a top representative of Chancellor Angela Merkel Mr. Gunter Nooke.
The Zambian envoy reaffirmed the determination of President Lungu to increase transparency when he called on Mr. Nooke, the African Representative of the Chancellor in the Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation known by its German acronym BMZ in Berlin recently where the two discussed various issues.
“President Lungu has taken various measures that have included instituting investigations, replacing Ministers while suspending others pending probes in both government and state-owned institutions in order to send a message that he seeks maximum transparency especially when it comes to dealing with both public and cooperating partners’ funds”, Ambassador Mukwita told Mr. Gunter Nook, a senior personal representative of the German Chancellor.
Ambassador Mukwita said President Lungu is committed to a transparent relationship with the donor community in which a frank exchange of views and ideas are genuinely encouraged.
Mr. Nook commended President Lungu for actively engaging in the recent refugee crisis, which saw thousands of Congolese refugees stream into Zambia, a crisis the German government helped to diffuse by contributing millions of euros.
Mr. Nooke also cautiously added that there could be need for ‘improvement’ in some areas on the part of President Lungu’s government as relations between Germany and Zambia continue to warm up.
In the more than 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Germany has pumped over one billion dollars in development support to Zambia. The support has been in various sectors that include governance, health, water and energy.
Currently, the German government is rolling out a hundred-million-dollar energy program that will see the establishment of over a hundred solar power plants in different parts of Zambia which will drastically reduce power deficit in the country while increasing the number of households and businesses with access to electricity.
A high level BMZ team is expected to travel to Zambia in November to discuss further cooperation between the two partners.
Ambassador Mukwita said the keen business interest Germany, Europe’s most robust and stable economy has continued to show in Zambia over the years “is invaluable and Zambia will not betray the trust.”