Global News Post: Zambia

President Sata Invites Indian Hotel Chain to Invest in Zambia

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">AHMEDABAD, INDIA (NNN-ZNBC) -- President Michael Sata has invited a hotel chain from India to invest in Zambia in his continued efforts to woo investors. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Zambian government is ready to facilitate investment in the hotel industry; President Sata said durimg a meeting Mon March 26 with Ummeid Champawat, the Chairman and Managing Director of UMEID Group of Hotels in Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">President Sata assured Champawat of the Zambian government’s readiness to work with investors who would contribute to the development of tourism in the country, according to a statement issued by his Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations, George Chellah. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The president said he wanted to ensure that Zambia maximised on economic benefits from the World Tourism Assembly to be co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe next year. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He noted that construction of hotels prior to the event scheduled for next year would go a long way towards enhancing tourism development in the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">President Sata was accompanied by Zambian High Commissioner (ambassador) to India Susan Sikaneta while Champawat was accompanied by Gateway Hotel General Manager Darius Merchant. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Champawat said his company was eager to invest in Zambia. The Umeid Group of Hotels is operated by the Taj Hotel Group of companies. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">President Sata is on a private visit to India and is accompanied by First Lady Christine Kaseba and Chellah. -- NNN-ZNBC<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

President Sata Invites Indian Hotel Chain to Invest in Zambia

AHMEDABAD, INDIA (NNN-ZNBC) -- President Michael Sata has invited a hotel chain from India to invest in Zambia in his continued efforts to ...

Former Zambian President Chiluba Dies

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><i>Delia Robertson | Johannesburg</i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">President Chiluba suffered a heart-attack at home after spending most of Friday with his lawyers and members of parliament. He had been treated for a heart condition for several years. Emmanuel Mwamba, his former spokesperson said he became ill in the early evening and his condition continued to worsen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“His personal physician attended to him and he went into an attack just before midnight. His doctor tried to do all he could and sadly we lost the president at five minutes after midnight,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chiluba learned his political skills as a trade unionist and was detained by former president Kenneth Kaunda in 1981 for organizing a wildcat strike that paralyzed the economy.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He helped found the Movement for Multiparty Democracy, or MMD, in 1990, leading the party to victory the next year in the first multiparty post-colonial elections in Zambia.  The MMD beat Kaunda’s United National Independence Party, or UNIP, paving the way for Chiluba to become president.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chiluba began his tenure by allowing greater political freedoms and liberalizing sectors of the economy, and received accolades at home and abroad for his efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">However, his administration became increasingly bogged down by allegations of corruption and maladministration.  He also was the target of personal criticism for his lavish lifestyle, including his wardrobe of handmade monogrammed shoes and suits.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chiluba won a second and final five-year term in 1997 but in the lead up to elections in 2001 he repeatedly proposed changes to the constitution that would allow him a third term.  A backlash from Zambians forced him to back away from the proposals.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After he left office his hand-picked successor Levy Mwanawasa instituted anti-corruption investigations and Chiluba was charged with misappropriating $500,000 to his personal account.  He was acquitted in 2009.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">However state prosecutors also filed civil charges against him in Britain and he was found guilty of stealing $46 million in government funds while president of Zambia.  He was ordered to repay 85 percent of the money, but the court order was never enforced in Zambia.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chiluba is survived by his second wife and nine children.  He was 68.  VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Former Zambian President Chiluba Dies

Delia Robertson | Johannesburg President Chiluba suffered a heart-attack at home after spending most of Friday with his lawyers and member...