Just two days after being sworn in as the new president of Zambia, Edgar Lungu (pictured below) has chosen Zambia’s first woman to be vice president with the selection of Inonge Wina (pictured), according to AllAfrica.
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Wina is the former wife of the late-Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) party
Chairman Arthur Wina. Her selection is historic, because Wina is the first female to be appointed vice president for Zambia. She has also made history as being the highest appointment from her region, Western Province.
Of Wina’s new position in his administration, Lungu said, “Inonge Wina is a solid person; stood up for the party when we faced possibility of disintegration and going into oblivion.”
Acting President Edgar Lungu and wife Esther
Lungu, who was previously in the head of Zambia’s justice and defense ministries, was officially sworn in as president of Zambia on Sunday, after elections were held in the southeastern nation last Tuesday.
During his inauguration ceremony, Lungu remarked, “I am humbled eternally and debted to you all, my fellow citizens. The bottom line is that we want the country to go foward and to banish poverty in our midst.”
Lungu squared off against Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development, eking out a larger share of the votes with 48.3 percent of the vote, while Hichilema reportedly received 46.7 of the vote.
Elections were held, after beloved President Michael Sata (a.k.a. King Cobra) unexpectedly died in Europe last October after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.
Lungu will serve out the rest of President Sata’s term and then new elections will be held. Already setting the tone for his presidency, Lungu warned his peers, “Your job is not to isolate or insulate the President. My stay at State House is short and I won’t hesitate to fire you.”
The new President says he wants to finish the economic development projects originally initiated by Sata.
