HH did not negotiate for Starlink to come to Zambia says Saboi Imboela

… The desperation of the UPND and its choir of praise singers to always want to show that they are working and in need of praise, when in fact not, is getting out of hand

By LUCY PHIRI

It is very worrying and dis­turbing to notice that the United Party for National Development (UPND) and its choir of praise singers is trying to hoodwink Zambi­ans by suggesting that Pres­ident Hakainde Hichilema negotiated for Starlink to come to Zambia in an effort to portray that the Head of State’s numerous and un­productive trips abroad are paying off, National Dem­ocratic Congress (NDC) president, Saboi Imboela has said.

Ms Imboela said in a statement yesterday that the truth was that Star­link had already promised high-speed and low-laten­cy connectivity to Africa long before President Hich­ilema met with the SpaceX team under Elon Musk.

She by the time President Hichilema was meeting Starlink, the first African countries were scheduled to get Starlink in the second quarter of 2023 and Zambia was one of them.

“Overall, there are 22 of­ficially-recognised African countries where Starlink aims to roll out in the com­ing year, including Somalil­and and Western Sahara. Three of our neighbours are also set to get the service this year and these are Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Mo­zambique, and Zimbabwe.

“A further 15 countries are slated to get the service in 2024, including Botswa­na and Namibia. No Pres­ident in these countries is claiming credit for bringing Starlink to their countries, except our President, who wants Zambians to believe he ne­gotiated a deal with Starlink/SpaceX when the schedule was already in place and being followed by Starlink on their own,” Ms Imboela said.

She said the desperation of President Hichilema, the UPND and its choir of praise singers to always want to show that they are working and in need of praise, when in fact not, was getting out of hand.

“We are highly concerned about this praise singing culture, even for things that they have not done. Work hard and the results will speak for you. Do not go around trying to claim cred­it for things that you have no moral right to do so over. As long as you work, it will show,” Ms Imboela said.

This article is supported with the WAN IFRA Women In News (WIN) Social Impact Reporting Initiative (SIRI). Gender equality, diversity and inclusion ( GEDI) Information in this article does not reflect the views of WAN IFRA Women In News.