Kambwili condemned

The Zambian High Commission in India has moved swiftly to condemn opposition NDC consultant Chishimba Kambwili after a video clip emerged showing him yelling at a construction worker believed to be of Indian origin.

In the one-minute clip that has gone viral on social media, a visibly emotional Kambwili is heard telling the worker who was driving a compactor to “go back to his country” as the job he was doing is meant for indigenous Zambians.

But Zambia’s High Commissioner to India Judith Kapijimpanga is dismayed by what she terms as unwarranted verbal attack directed the man believed to be of Indian origin, who is working on the expansion of roads in Zambia.

“Mr. Kambwili understands the complaints procedure as former Minister of Labour and that his words are unwarranted in the eyes of the international community having served as Minister of Foreign Affairs too,” Kapijimpanga said.

Kapijimpanga added that Kambwili should have taken time to investigate whether the person operating the road compactor was not born and raised in Zambia.

“Mr. Kambwili is a wrong person to attack any nationality working in Zambia because his own spouse works in the United Kingdom and such outbursts threaten the lives of Zambians working abroad in case others retaliate,” she said.

Kapijimpanga said pertinent issues that were meant to benefit the masses such as the decongestion of Lusaka Roads Project jointly funded by India and Zambia could not be resolved in an emotional way.

“Zambians have never looked at the colour of any person once having a white Republican Vice President Dr. Guy Scott, people of Indian origin such as Dipak Patel as former Commerce Minister and former Agriculture Minister, Suresh Desai who were elected by the people,” she said.

This was contained in a statement released by First Secretary Press and Tourism at the Zambian Mission in New Delhi, India, Bangwe Naviley.