of licensing and enforcement before moving to the bank of zambia. to say something about my academic qualifications, i graduated with a bachelor of laws degree from university of zambia, thereafter a master of laws degree from harvard where i was a fulbright scholar and a phd from university of london, centre for commercial law studies, queen mary and westfield college. allow me to mention that all my studies were done on scholarship. bis central bankers ’ speeches apart from my work, i am also involved in service to the public and to the church through sitting on various bodies. i was not appointed to this position my chance ; it took effort and hard work to be noticed. i believed in myself and knew i had to put in the best to achieve anything i wanted to achieve. so what message do i carry for you this afternoon? my theme is that you can do it! to you the students, i want to encourage you to see yourselves as leaders. you are the future of this nation. you are part of the cream that need to push this country forward. i would like you to realise that academic and professional qualifications are an integral part of settings yourselves up for one ’ s life. by being here, you are establishing a path for your successful career whether as an employee or an entrepreneur. the knowledge that you are gaining is assisting in developing and enhancing your ability to think and perceive as well as manage the various situations that life offers. the outcome of your academic development will obviously have a positive impact on your family, society, culture and country at large. make sure you take full advantage of this opportunity. it sets the stage for the rest of your future. if you graduate from here with poor grades will mean you have limited your access to top notch institutions, should you, for example, wish to get an advanced qualification. you are limited even to apply for scholarships. and in situations of competition, the best will be selected. zcas is one of the renowned institutions in zambia. one thing you must realise is that not everyone has the opportunity to be enrolled in an institution of higher learning to obtain an academic or professional qualification. therefore, you must make the best of this opportunity to be here at zcas and indeed, be thankful to god. many of your friends are not able to have this opportunity. i am also aware that for quite a good number, it is a great sacrifice by your parents to send you here. you should ensure that this investment pays off by putting in your best. discipline for many of

. ladies and gentlemen, in line with “ goal 8 ” of the millennium development goals on “ environmental sustainability ”, we are all expected to work together and reverse the losses of environmental resources. i am glad to report that the financial sector has taken the bold step and has become one of, if not the first, to contribute positively towards achieving this goal. in this regard i would like to call upon other corporate entities and business houses in lusaka and other cities around the country to emulate the efforts of the financial sector and help keep zambia a beautiful, clean and healthy place to live in. i must hasten to mention here that, by undertaking such initiatives, we are in no way trying to take over the responsibility of the local authorities but merely supplementing their efforts of keeping the country clean and healthy. hon minister, allow me to make an earnest appeal to the local authorities through “ his worship the mayor ” to assist in the maintenance of the islands by providing security to minimize the rampant vandalism, theft and destruction of plants and other essentials that occur on a daily basis. we also make a humble request to the lusaka city council to consider working on the water reticulation system, as this is one area posing a great challenge in the maintenance of the islands. furthermore, there are still a number of places, which require urgent attention in the city. your worship, we have observed that a number of incomplete buildings have been abandoned posing a danger to the lives of many while others remain without a colour wash for years giving an unattractive sight to our beloved capital city. we would like to request your good office, “ your worship ” to issue mandatory directives to all business houses in the country to complete construction sites within a stipulated period and to ensure that all buildings are properly maintained and where necessary repainted on a regular basis. in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, i wish to commend the bankers association of zambia and in particular the project committee for the effective and efficient manner in which this initiative has been implemented thus far. my hope is that the initiative will not only be confined to cairo road but to all areas of the country. finally, i would like to urge all of us present here today to extend this initiative to our homes. let us keep our homes, communities and the country clean as cleanliness is next to godliness. i thank you.