Norway has closed its embassy in Zambia with the Norwegian Ambassador citing corruption as one of the reasons why his country was moving out of the southern African nation according to The Post.
The embassy also said it was pointless to keep funding a country which did not show commitment to improving its own management.
“There was a feeling that the anti-corruption fight has been going very much up and down and we feel that when a country doesn’t make enough use of its own resources. It’s not doing well enough in terms of public resource management, in terms of its distributional policies, then we should leave,” the Norwegian Ambassador Arve Ofstad was quoted as saying.
Ofstad said that remaining in Zambia was not viable due to the lack of accountability and progress, Lusaka Times reported.
“As of today… we found that it was more necessary to keep our embassies elsewhere. Sorry, but that’s reality,” Ofstad said.
Reacting to the development, opposition Rainbow Party national youth chairperson McDonald Mulongoti, said this was a clear indication that President Edgar Lungu had failed the country.
