President Edgar Lungu has appointed former Zambia Army commander Lieutenant General Paul Mihova as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, taking over from Muyeba Chikonde who is on recall.

In December 2018, President Lungu dropped Mihova as Army commander and replaced him with Brigadier General William Sikazwe.

And President Lungu has also appointed retired Zambia Army Major Jackson Miti and former Information minister Mwansa Kapeya as High Commissioners to South Africa and Botswana respectively.

Meanwhile speaking during the swearing-in ceremony at State House Friday, President Edgar Lungu appealed to the three appointees to understand the contents of the Seventh National Development Plan as they take up their positions.

“Congratulations once again to the three of you on your respective appointments into foreign service. These appointments, like for many others in the civil service, are on merit. I wish to now address you in your individual capacities. As you take up these new positions, I appeal to the three of you to make an effort to understand the contents of the Seventh National Development Plan currently under implementation. This document is a blueprint to guide you in explaining Zambia’s development agenda, at bilateral level. I wish you all the best in your new positions,” President Lungu said.

And speaking to journalists after being sworn in, Kapeya who is former Information minister in Michael Sata’s regime said he would continue growing the already existing partnership between Zambia and Botswana.

“Indeed as the president alluded to we need to continue cementing the partnership that has really existed for quite some time now and which has also reached a very high level. So as High Commissioner to Botswana, I will ensure that I keep on growing the existing partnership between the two countries. And the beauty about the two countries is that they stand aloof as the maintainers of peace and since independence, Botswana has really maintained the high level of peace and stability, the same thing with this country. So we need to show it to the world that we are the champions of peace and stability. And indeed there is a lot that we can learn from Botswana especially that Botswana is also a mining country,” said Kapeya.