Lungu praises late Ng'onga Chibesakunda
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says former ambassador to Japan Ng'onga Chibesakunda who died last Wednesday will be remembered as a disciplined, hardworking and dedicated public servant.
President Lungu said Mr Chibesakunda was not only the longest serving Clerk of the National Assembly of Zambia, but also one of the longest serving Clerks of Parliament in the Commonwealth.
In a speech read for him by Foreign Affairs Minister, Joseph Malanji during the funeral Mass for the late Mr Chibesakunda at St. Ignatius Catholic Parish in Lusaka, President Lungu said the late envoy was awarded for outstanding work in Parliamentary Practices and Procedure.
“In recognition of his distinguished service, the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom, honoured Mr Chibesakunda with the
International Man of the Year 1991/1992 Award for outstanding work in Parliamentary Practices and Procedure,” he said.
President Lungu said in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Mr Chibesakunda chaired and presided over various Clerks-At-The-Table and Speakers Conferences both at the CPA Africa Region and at other Commonwealth fora where he equally served as Secretary General of the Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding Officers of the CPA from 1986 - 1990.
He said Mr Chibesakunda was a renowned resource person for various seminars and workshops for Members of Parliament and staff in the CPA Africa Region and Commonwealth generally.
“It is for this reason that he was contracted as a Consultant in the establishment of a training Centre for
Members of Parliament and Staff in the SADC Region," said Mr Lungu.
And President Lungu praised Mr Chibesakunda for having been instrumental in the formation of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum in 1993 where he served, subsequently, as the Interim Secretary General and for his role in drafting the Parliamentary Forum's Constitution.