Daniel Foote, the United States Ambassador to Zambia, hopes Government will commit to improve the decaying relations with his country.

Mr Foote says the relations between America and Zambia are strained.

He said this is no way to treat the largest donor to Zambia with 500 million Dollars to health and education annually.

The United States envoy says it is wrong to have a one-way bilateral relation where even appointments to State House take long and often postponed over time.

Mr Foote was reacting to Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Malanji’s statement over his disbelief of sentencing of homosexuals to 15 years.

Mr Foote is quoted to have expressed surprise that this is happening when government officials steal millions of dollars without prosecution.

He also said in a statement that the jailing of a gay couple was happening when party cadres were beating up innocent people without consequences.

Mr Foote said this was happening under the nose of poachers killing elephants but some just jailed five years.

But the Zambian Government has decided to ask the United States of America to punish their Mr Foote, after he refused to discredit his press statement.

On Saturday, Mr Malanji said Zambia through its mission in Washington D.C will present to US foreign Department a Demarche against Mr Foote.

A Demarche is the raising of a matter with sending country of a diplomatic official, often accompanied by a specific request for some type of action or decision in connection the conduct or misconduct.

Reacting to the Zambian Government’s position, Mr Foote says he is shocked at the amount of hate directed at him over his remarks.

He says over the weekend he took time to read the Zambian Constitution and did not find anywhere calling for the discrimination of the minority groups.

Details later…