WHO MANAGES PRESIDENT LUNGU’S FACEBOOK PAGE?
Three days ago, President Edgar Lungu’s supposed Facebook page posted a congratulatory message to Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) secretary-general Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe for being named among Africa’s 100 most influential women.
Ms Kapwepwe was listed by Avance Media, a leading African public relations and rating firm that seeks to present Africa’s incredible-achieving women as role models for the younger generation.
I join President Lungu in congratulating Ms Kapwepwe for being named in the 2020 compilation which comprised Africa’s most powerful women from 34 countries.
Holder of a Master of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a fellow of the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants (ACCA) of the United Kingdom, Ms Kapwepwe’s recognition is well deserved.
She is also a fellow of the Zambia Institute of Charted Accountants (ZICA).
Among the numerous positions Ms Kapwepwe has held include serving as executive director of the International Monetary Fund for the Africa Group One Constituency, based in Washington DC, managing director of the Zambia National Airports Corporation as well as deputy minister of Finance and National Planning.
At the Zambia Revenue Authority, she remains the only woman to have served as board chairperson since its founding in 1994.
Zambians have cause to be proud of these achievements.
Others who have been named together with Ms Kapwepwe among the 100 most influential African women include former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former Mozambican first lady and Nelson Mandela’s widow Graca Machel.
There is also Halima Dangote, the executive director of the Dangote Group and daughter of Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bom Bensouda and United Nations Under-Secretary-General and executive director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka.
That Ms Kapwepwe has been named among these high-profile personalities means a lot to Zambia hence the congratulatory message from President Lungu.
But, wait a minute.
Is Ms Kapwepwe the only Zambian among the 100 women?
No, she is not.
There is also Amanda Khozi Mukwashi and Dorothy Ng’ambi Tembo.
Who are Mukwashi and Tembo?
The British-born Ms Mukwashi is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Christian Aid, the official relief and development agency of 41 British and Irish churches.
Ms Mukwashi, who holds a master’s degree in international economic law from the University of Warwick and a bachelor of law degree from the University of Zambia, is the first-ever African CEO of Christian.
She has previously worked as director of policy for VSO International, based in London and head of external relations as well as head of programmes at Skillshare International UK.
Now, let us look at Ms Tembo.
An economist and trade and development expert, she is the acting executive director of the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Before that, Mrs Tembo was deputy executive director of the ITC after having earlier served as executive director of the multi-donor-funded enhanced Integrated Framework Programme at the World Trade Organisation.
She holds a degree in economics from the University of Zambia.
It was because of the foregoing that Avance Media chose Ms Mukwashi and Ms Tembo among Africa’s most influential women alongside Ms Kapwepwe and 97 others.
Why, then, did President Lungu only congratulate Ms Kapwepwe?
Are Ms Mukwashi and Ms Tembo not as high-achieving Ms Kapwepwe or the president was simply not aware that they, too, had been mentioned among the 100 most influential African women?
Was the congratulatory later to Ms Kapwepwe meant for political capital because of the influence her late father commanded?
How do Ms Mukwashi and Ms Tembo feel about President Lungu’s apparent snub?
Hence the question: Who manages President Lungu’s Facebook page?
Is it State House, the Smart Eagles or the Patriotic Front media directorate?
Should the president’s official Facebook page be run by politicians?
Whoever manages the page is not being fair to the head of State.
Not too long ago, they embarrassed him by posting a picture of a road under construction in another country and purporting it to be Zambian.
Embarrassment to our president is embarrassment to us all.
Such embarrassing situations are usually a result of some people being in too much hurry to please the head of State in a vain quest to prove their relevance.
Patience is a virtue.
Instead of googling for attractive-looking foreign pictures, why not use the Internet to find such useful information as the one that showed Ms Mukwashi and Ms Tembo to be among the 100 most influential African women?
I do not doubt the professional competency of President Lungu’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Isaac Chipampe and his deputy Cecilia Mulenga.
The question that still begs an answer is: Who manages President Lungu’s Facebook page?
Picture 1: Ms Kapwepwe
Picture 2: Ms Mukwashi
Picture 3: Ms Tembo