By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamb
Charter of Executive Jet, President Hichilema should swallow his pride and save resources
By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
In his trip to the 36th Ordinary Session of Heads of State Assembly of the African Union to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, President Hakainde Hichilema has hired an Executive Jet to fly him and his entourage.
The 1990 ZS-SGC Bombardier Challenger 601 is owned by Luxaviation. Luxaviation recently acquired ExecuJet Lanseria, South Africa, a private jet charter which operates from South Africa.
Zambia has two executive presidential jets.
The old Challenger, and the brand new G650 Gulf Stream that President Hichilema has refused to use stating that he will put it up for sale.
The G650 Gulfstream was recently in Dubai for its annual maintenance and mechanical service that cost the country in excess of $10million.
Why should the the country spend so much money on hire or charter of an executive jet when it has two presidential jets parked in the hanger?
The foreign trips by the President are already a subject of public discussion and he has so far taken 32 international trips in 16 months.
Zambia is experiencing one of the worst economic crisis with the people facing the highest cost of living in recent times. Why doesn’t the President exercise prudency in light of current economic status?
There is a daily commercial flight to Addis Ababa, he would have done well to take such a flight than hire a private jet while two are parked in the hanger.
