President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has pardoned five inmates from various correctional facilities.
The President has pardoned Chief Mulongwe, Former Minister in the Movement for Multiparty Democracy(MMD) government Maxwell Mwale,journalist Derrick Sinjela, Afumba Mombotwa, and former Zambia Airforce commander Christopher Singogo.
The President’s action is in line with Article 97 of the Constitution of Zambia Chapter (1) of the Laws of Zambia which provides for the Presidential pardon and substitution of severe punishments imposed on the convicted.
The gesture was to mark his 63rd birthday which falls today.
And Defence Chiefs have presented birthday gifts to the President to mark his 63rd birthday which falls today , 11th November, 2019.
The Defence Chiefs presented various gifts to the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces at State House at a short ceremony which was attended by uniformed men and women from the Zambia Army,Zambia Airforce, Zambia National Service, Zambia Correctional Services and Immigration Department including members of Staff of State House and some senior Government officials.
Immediately the President walked into the credentials room at State House, he was welcomed to a heart-warming Happy birthday melody sang by the Defence Forces, including State House members of Staff.
The ceremony was also punctuated by the traditional cutting of the cake which marks the birthday ceremony’s crescendo.
In response to this gesture,the President said he was humbled by the love that the Defence Forces had shown him, and jokingly said: “I am 36” a reversal of 63 years.
The President called for teamwork in the Defence Forces and all fields across the country’s sectors, if national development was to be achieved.
He said his success depended on teamwork across the country’s sectors.
The President thanked God Almighty for sustaining him.
Earlier, Zambia Army Commander Lientant General William Sikazwe congratulated the President on his birthday and prayed that God Almighty will continue to give him wisdom as he leads the nation.
Lieutenant General Sikazwe said it was gratifying that the President’s birthday was falling on the day that the First World War came to an end signifying peace.
General Sikazwe quipped, “When we are jogging , you are always ahead of us yet you are 63.”
This was contained in a statement issued by Isaac Chimpampe Special Assistant to the President (Press and Public relations).
