The University of Zambia (UNZA) has awarded an honorary Doctorate of Business Administration to Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia.
In his acceptance speech, President Hichilema said he was honoured to be awarded a doctorate in Business Administration and hoped that this gesture would spur young people to work hard in their educational pursuits.
“I wholeheartedly accept this award, and I want to thank the University Council, Management, and staff for this recognition,” he said.
President Hichilema further praised the University's education system and called on the young people not to take for granted the opportunity they have been given to study at the highest institution of learning in the country.
“As a graduate of this university, I can attest that if you graduate from UNZA, you can compete anywhere in the world. When I went to further my studies in the UK, my course at Masters level was easy because of the strong foundation I acquired here at UNZA,” he said.
The Head of State said his government was working hard to better the lives of the Zambians, and called for collaboration with the university in delivering social and economic development.
“The Government will soon embark on the nationwide mineral exploration programme, and I want the University, through the School of Mines, to work with us in undertaking this exercise,” he said.
President Hichilema further added that his Government was committed to addressing many challenges the University had been facing for many years. “We are aware of problems at UNZA. I just want to assure you that my Government is working hard to ensure that we find lasting solutions to these problems,” he said.
He said one of the solutions to end the perennial problems at the highest institution was to ensure that the University becomes self-reliant financially. To this effect, the President offered himself to find an investor to partner with UNZA to set up a solar farm, which would help to generate funds for the institution.
“I would like this University to also start doing some business ventures. We discussed it already, and I want to mention one. One of the businesses I want to ensure that this University ventures in is to put a solar farm, which will generate more electricity, some of which will be sold,” he explained.
Commenting on the shortage of students’ accommodation, the Head of State directed that hostels at the University, which had stalled for more than 15 years, should be completed. He further appealed to all UNZA alumni to plough back to the University by adopting and renovating their former rooms.
“I want to inform you that as part of my small contribution to my University, I have donated K1.5 million, which will go towards the renovation of not just my former room Tiyende Pamodzi (TP) 5 room 11 but the whole TP 5 block. I believe all of us can do the same,” he urged.
Speaking at the same function, UNZA Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mundia Muya, said the conferment of the award to the President was based on the contribution he has made to humanity in general and Business Administration in particular.
“The ability of recipients to contribute to the well-being of humanity is just one of the aspects the University considers for such an award. The University of Zambia goes further to evaluate what the candidates have done in fostering understanding, cooperation, brotherhood, compassion, solidarity, and mutual tolerance amongst people, thereby transcending religious, ethnic, colour, national, and other differences,” he said.
Prof. Muya said the University believed that those individuals who see beyond the average human being and become aware of the interconnectedness of all human beings at the core of humanity while taking it to a more concrete than abstract level determine the recognition of high-achieving individuals.
“We also believe that high-achieving and success-oriented individuals must be directed toward expanding knowledge, action, and thought horizons. The attributes of such deserving candidates include the following: individuals who lead society to learn more about themselves and the world they live in; individuals who have led more by questioning the essence of life and advancing ideas that explain more why humans are where they are or how they can get to where they ought to be; and individuals who have cultivated the path man ought to take, what man ought to do for a better world, and for more satisfied humanity, society should endeavour to show recognition to such individuals,” he stated.
Prof. Muya said it was because of UNZA’s position in society and the world of academia at large that the institution had chosen not to award honorary degrees as a mere decoration. “Before an honoraria is conferred with the degree, our university takes into account the deserving status of the potential recipient. We seriously consider all the contributions one has made to the development of mankind or humankind through their harnessing of natural and/or human resources,” he explained.
He said through the selection of Mr. Hakainde Hichilema as an honorary laureate, UNZA has demonstrated its willingness to intensify intellectual, cultural, and scientific cooperation with both the Zambian and the international scholarly communities.
“Our award of honorary degrees to distinguished figures reflects and sustains our reputation as an important centre of learning internationally. Therefore, the individual we are awarding today, as noted from the credentials to be shared shortly, has been more than outstanding. For this reason, we have stood by the ideals of advancing quality over quantity. To us, it is not the number of award recipients that matters, but the quality of such persons to service and excellence,” he said.