President To Fly Commercial To UN General Assembly

President Hakainde Hichilema is due to fly with a commercial airline to reach the UN General Assembly in New York this month.

The information, which was shared by UPND Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa, comes as the party plan on selling the presidential jet as it is viewed as an unnecessary commodity.

On addressing the media, Mr Mweetwa said that the decision to sell the jet, purchased by the previous PF government with taxpayers money, comes as the country faces an economic crisis.

“We told the nation that the jet would be auctioned because it was then considered as a not so necessary commodity in the presence of other competing needs,” he said.

Mweetwa added that the decision to sell the jet was now in the hands of the cabinet as it is government property.

To ensure that costs for the trip to the UN General Assembly are reduced, a lean delegation is due to accompany the President. The decision will help to reduce governemnt expenditure as well as reducing the impact which the use of the presidential jet will have on the environment.

The jet was originally purchased in 2019 by the Patriotic Front government for $26million, an astronomical and unnecessary cost for a country which found itself in debt worth approximately 94% of the GDP at the time of purchase.