From PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE  –

in New York
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu is among 154 Heads of State expected to attend the 70th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA70) where he is expected to deliver his maiden speech.
Pope Francis who heads the Vatican and leads the biggest following of Catholics in all the 193 member states of the United Nations (UN) will for the first time attend the General Assembly.
His coming to the gathering had been elevated and was being given the whole session to himself called, “The high-level session of the Pope’s statement” where he would issue an address to the meeting.
Unprecedented security would characterise the UN Assembly and most of the streets would be closed as no traffic would be allowed to move near the meeting premises.
During the official opening, VIP spouses would not be allowed to attend the session as there would be too many people due to the high number of Heads of State in attendance.
Security personnel assigned to individual Heads of State and governments would not be allowed to accompany their leaders as the UN security would take charge.
Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Chalwe Lombe and Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Kasese-Mwaba Bota said at a briefing held at the Zambian Embassy in New York yesterday that President Lungu would be joining other leaders for the UN General Assembly.
Dr Kasese-Bota said the UNGA70 was a momentous occasion in history as the UN body would be taking stock of its achievements and challenges encountered in the years of its existence.
President Lungu would speak on the second day of the Post 2015 Summit on Saturday afternoon while his maiden speech to the UN gathering would be delivered on Tuesday next week.
The Zambian Government had also organised side events at the ongoing UNGA.
Mr Lungu would also chair a high level meeting of the Land-locked Developing Countries (LDCs) and that some Presidential delegates had already confirmed participation at the meeting.
The President would also attend a meeting as Vice-President of the UNICEF board because Zambia was currently holding the position.
The President’s speech would focus on his vision and add Zambia’s voice to various international issues and would draw lessons from the Summit to enhance political diplomacy and boost Zambia’s economic ?agenda.
The host President Barack Obama would also be in attendance.