Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has sparked an outrage in his country after he travelled to the United Kingdom (UK) to attend a video conference which took place today July 27, 2021.
Chakwera has come under criticism in his country for choosing to travel to London for The Global Education Summit which was supposed to be held on virtual platforms.
Meanwhile, Chakwera justified his trip to the UK, arguing that the internet in his country is unreliable.
“Even though the summit is virtual, the President needs to be in UK physically as you know internet connection in Malawi is not reliable,” his spokesman told the media. He also indicated that he had initially wanted to bring at least 60 people.
Surprisingly, he travelled to the United Kingdom with a 10-member entourage who are mostly his family. The delegation included his wife, First Lady Monica Chakwera; daughter, Violet Lillie and the President’s son-in-law, Sean Kampondeni, who is the State House director of communications.
A close source to the government who spoke on condition of anonymity has questioned the reason for the trip and more importantly the presence of the President’s eldest daughter.
“The President’s eldest daughter, Violet has been included on the list of a 10 member delegation to the UK presumably taking up a place meant for Foreign Affairs Minister.
“What she is going to do there, only she and her father know. It is really sad that instead of taking on the trip people who could make use of the summit and do government business, the president is taking his daughter.”
He further noted that already, the President has been criticised for abusing incumbency, particularly the appointment of her daughter Violet, an outbound air tickets sales agent who was recently appointed as a diplomat to Brussels in Belgium.
However, Foreign Affairs Minister Eisenhower Mkaka defended the government saying, “This is an education summit being co-hosted by the British Prime Minister and Kenyan President. Different heads of government and state will attend this meeting.
“They have limited the entourage to 10. Malawi is already benefiting from this Global Education Initiative. The policies to be made there will directly impact Malawi. It is imperative that the President attend this.”
Eisenhower Mkaka, Foreign Affairs Minister
He also defended the presence of his daughter stating that, “President Chakwera said that he needed his daughter there because she would provide physical and emotional support during the trip as the First Lady was reportedly not feeling well.”
Chakwera, 66, a Pentecostal Pastor and former theology lecturer, was inaugurated as President last year 2020. He defeated the incumbent, Peter Mutharika with 58.57% of votes in the polls. Although, there was incidents of alleged irregularities and rigging.
In his inauguration speech, Mr Chakwera stated that his priority as a President was to deal with corruption.
“I want to provide leadership that makes everybody prosper, that deals decisively with corruption and theft of public funds and a leadership that will follow the rule of law.”
Mr Chakwera, Malawi President
However, this new episode of his leadership will leave many Malawians wondering if he is indeed practising what he preached on his inauguration day.
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