Lungu undergoes medical review in South Africa

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has proceeded for medical review following the conclusion of the African Union (AU) Assembly of African Heads of State in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The President’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda said in Pretoria on Tuesday that the President was at his first medical review after he attended hospital here earlier this year.
Mr Chanda said the President had started his medical review following the conclusion of the summit.
He said doctors would advise on how long the President would have to stay in South Africa for the reviews once they had examined him.
Meanwhile, Mr Lungu is satisfied with the just-ended AU summit and the resolutions that were made by the heads of State in attendance.
Mr Chanda said it was even more satisfying that Zambia had been awarded for the strides it had made in achieving gender parity and empowering women in various aspects.
He said Zambia was doing well in women empowerment and that the country had been hailed as an example of how nations should pursue gender parity.
“The President had tabulated, during the meeting, how Zambia has succeeded in appointing women in majority of influential positions of governance during the summit,” Mr Chanda said.
He dedicated the award to the hard working women in Government and the country, as well as late President Michael Sata for pioneering the appointment of women to key positions of leadership.
The resolution to retire the hand-held hoe and replace it with modern farming implements during the summit would be taken seriously and ensure that it is implemented in Zambia.
Mr Lungu has since directed the Gender minister and her Community Development counterpart to lead the implementation.
The President recognised that this would coincide with Government plans to revive the agriculture cooperatives as well as the establishment of 4,000 solar-powered milling plants across the country.
Mr Lungu also expressed happiness with the launch of the Continental Free Trade Area which is expected to boost trade among African countries.
Zambia is committed to the establishment of the African Standby Force as agreed at the summit.
He said the country already had military preparedness as part of SADC, which was one of the regions commended during the summit for having taken the lead in establishing a regional force to respond to conflict.
Mr Chanda also said the Government had made submissions to the AU to express concern over how the media was barred from covering major activities during the summit.

TimesofZambia