30 July 2008
FOREIGN Affairs Minister, Kabinga Pande has implored Malian honorary Consul-Designate to Zambia, Mamadou Kouyate to avail the Government with statistics on Zambian women stranded in that country.
Mr Pande said that there were many Zambian women in Mali who were stranded after their husbands deserted them.
He said this in Lusaka yesterday when he handed over Diplomatic Exequatur to Mr Kouyate, who the Malian government has appointed as honorary Consul-Designate to Zambia.
"You have to help us tackle the issue of Zambian women stranded in Mali. There are many Zambian women who went there with their spouses but they have now been left stranded.
We have been pursuing this issue with our offices in Nigeria but we would be glad if you could help us with information on how many Zambians are there and their children and those that want to come back home," Mr Pande said.
He urged Mr Kouyate to help strengthen the relationship between Zambia and Mali, which dates back to the early 1960s.
Mr Pande said that it was important that the relationship between the two countries were cemented.
The relationship should be cemented particularly that both Zambia and Mali are members of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN).
The minister asked Mr Kouyate to help promote trade links between the two countries. He said there were many business opportunities between the two countries which should be exploited.
Mr Kouyate said that he would help concretise the relationship between the two countries and promised to look into the issue of Zambian women stranded in Mali.
Mr Kouyate said he would ensure that Malian nationals in Zambia adhered to the country's laws.
He said it was important that Malians obeyed the country's laws to avoid being in confrontation with the authorities.
And when he handed over the Diplomatic Exequatur to honorary Consul-Designate to Zambia from Mauritius Rekha Parmar, Mr Pande said the relationship between the two countries were cordial but should grow even much stronger.
Mr Pande urged Ms Parmar to help establish trade links between Zambia and Mauritius.
He said Zambia and Mauritius were both members of AU and UN, an indication of the cordial relations between the two countries.
"Your role will be pivotal in establishing close links between both governments and the private sector of our two countries. You will be expected to empower both Zambian and Mauritian people and the business sector with information about the economic opportunities existing in the two countries," Mr Pande said.
Ms Parmar said that she would work at ensuring that trade links between the two countries were enhanced.
In addition to enhancing trade between the two countries, she said her other task would be to ensure that the relationship between Zambia and Mauritius was not disturbed.
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