Chakwera hosts first foreign President

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi will becomes the first foreign President to visit Malawi since President Lazarus Chakwera came to power following the June 23 2020 court-sanctioned fresh presidential election.

According to a press statement issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dated March 5 2021, Masisi has arranged a day-long working visit, and will engage Chakwera.

Masisi,  who is also chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, is expected to hold bilateral talks with Chakwera; and exchange views on other Sadc-related issues.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry indicated that full details of the two leaders’ meeting would be communicated later.

Presidential press secretary Brian Banda on Saturday also said there would be a news conference after the two leaders’ meeting.

Since Chakwera’s ascendancy to power, which coincided with the Covid-19 global pandemic, no foreign President has visited the country, but Chakwera himself has visited some countries in the region, including South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Otherwise, Chakwera has held some of his important international meetings virtually, owing to the pandemic.