President Lungu returns home

President Edgar Lungu has wound up his business in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia following the close of the 24th African Union summit last evening.

President Lungu has since left Ethiopia for Lusaka.

His Presidential Challenger plane left Bole International Airport at 08:20hours local time in the company of First Lady, Esther Lungu and his Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations, Amos Chanda.

While in Addis Ababa President Lungu attending the 24th African Union summit which ran from January 30th to 31st, 2015.

Mr. Lungu also held bilateral talks with Presidents and Prime Ministers from within Africa and beyond.

He also held talks with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Unite States of America’s Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thoma-Greenfield.

Meanwhile, First Lady Esther Lungu described the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) meetings which she was attending as an eye opener and fruitful.

Mrs. Lungu said the meetings presented her with an opportunity to interact with other African First Ladies.

She told Zambian journalists in Addis Ababa that she learnt a lot from the summit on HIV/AIDS, cervical and breast cancer and other disease that daunt the African continent.

She said she will utilise the knowledge to help vulnerable people in Zambia.

And Mrs. Lungu has observed that the provision of basic needs to rural families would help reduce cases of defilements, child marriages and gender based violence.

She said girls who cover long distances to fetch water and firewood were prone to abuse by men.