{"id":8544,"date":"2021-10-24T01:23:21","date_gmt":"2021-10-24T01:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue"},"modified":"2021-10-25T01:44:41","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T01:44:41","slug":"president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue","title":{"rendered":"President Hichilema lays his first wreath at the freedom statue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>President Hakainde Hichilema this morning led Zambians, members of the diplomatic corps and defence chiefs in laying wreaths at the freedom statue in remembrance of the departed heroes and heroines who fought for Zambia\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n

This was the first wreath laying ceremony President Hichilema graced as republican Head of State after scoping the August 12, 2021 general elections. The President arrived at the freedom statue at 09:20 hours local time and was received by Defence Minister, Ambrose Lufuma.<\/p>\n

The wreath laying ceremony was characterised with the playing of solanum music by the defence wings and preaching of God\u2019s word. President Hichilema, clad in a blue suite, white shirt and red necktie was the first to lay wreaths at the freedom statue, followed by Defence Chiefs and members of the diplomat corps.<\/p>\n

Later a 21 gun salute was mounted by the Zambia Army Second battalion in honour of the fallen gallant freedom fighters. Before departing for the Embassy memorial park where a similar event awaited him, President Hichilema took some time to interact with the members of the diplomatic corps, freedom fighters and residents who showed up for the wreath laying ceremony.<\/p>\n

The wreath laying ceremony was held under the theme \u201cCelebrating a New Dawn Anchored on Good Governance, National Unity and Development.\u201d And in delivering the homily to mark the 57th independence commemorations, Chaplain General in the Ministry of Defence Brig Gen Apostle Vincent Mwenya urged Zambians to strive to work hard for mother Zambia.<\/p>\n

Apostle Mwenya emphasized on the need for the Zambians to be industrious and contribute to the prosperity of the country. He encouraged citizens to reject all forms of idleness but rather to embrace hard work.<\/p>\n

The Chaplain General cited dependence on handouts and laziness as some of the syndromes that must be rejected adding that if tolerated the country won\u2019t go forward. He called on Zambians to collectively work hard in order to attain economic emancipation for mother Zambia.<\/p>\n

President Hakainde Hichilema laying his wreath at Freedom Statue to Mark Zambia\u2019s 57 th Independence Day Celebrations on Sunday, October 24,2021-Picture by THOMAS NSAMA\/ZANIS<\/p>\n

President Hakainde Hichilema laying his wreath at Freedom Statue to Mark Zambia\u2019s 57 th Independence Day Celebrations on Sunday, October 24,2021-Picture by THOMAS NSAMA\/ZANIS<\/p>\n

President Hakainde Hichilema laying his wreath at Freedom Statue to Mark Zambia\u2019s 57 th Independence Day Celebrations on Sunday, October 24,2021-Picture by THOMAS NSAMA\/ZANIS<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. President Hakainde Hichilema this morning led Zambians, members of the diplomatic corps and defence chiefs in laying wreaths at the freedom statue in remembrance of the departed heroes and heroines who fought for Zambia\u2019s independence. This was the first wreath laying ceremony President Hichilema graced as republican Head of State after scoping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,25,8,16],"tags":[234,235,2455,3766,233],"class_list":["post-8544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","category-featured","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-ambrose-lufuma","tag-defence-minister","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Hichilema lays his first wreath at the freedom statue - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Hakainde Hichilema this morning led Zambians, members of the diplomatic corps and defence chiefs in laying wre ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Hichilema lays his first wreath at the freedom statue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Hakainde Hichilema this morning led Zambians, members of the diplomatic corps and defence chiefs in laying wre ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-24T01:23:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-25T01:44:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2021\/10\/img-61760bee9b3ef.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"494\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"President Hichilema lays his first wreath at the freedom statue\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-24T01:23:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-25T01:44:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue\"},\"wordCount\":420,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2021\/10\/img-61760bee9b3ef.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Ambrose Lufuma\",\"Defence Minister\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\",\"Featured\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/president-hichilema-lays-his-first-wreath-at-the-freedom-statue\",\"name\":\"President Hichilema lays his first wreath at the freedom statue - 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