Zimbabwe President Mnangagwa granted freedom of Lilongwe City

* He is expected to hold a number of official engagements with his counterpart Lazarus Chakwera

* Which include bilateral talks and visiting areas that were affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy

By Tiyanjane Nandie Mambucha & Rachel Gonani, MANA

Zimbabwe President, Comrade Emmerson Dambuzo Mnangagwa has been granted freedom of Lilongwe City by the Mayor, Richard Banda upon his arrival in Malawi on Wednesday for a three-day state visit.

Accompanied by President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima, Mnangagwa received a dummy key from the Mayor granting him freedom of the city and signed a visitors’ book at the Civic Offices.

The Zimbabwe President thanked the Mayor for the warm welcome by presented him a gift, saying: “As per custom and tradition of the Mwenemutapa Kingdom, we carry gifts to the host. Therefore, I am giving you a gift of a crocodile skin.”

Upon arrival at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA), the Zimbabwe leader inspected a guard of honour mounted by the Malawi Defence Force before proceeding to the Civic Offices in Lilongwe.

During the three-day visit, Mnangagwa is expected to hold a number of official engagements which include bilateral talks and visiting areas that were affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy, among other engagements.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as Zimbabwe’s Head of State in 2017, succeeding the long serving president, the late Robert Mugabe.

Malawi and Zimbabwe enjoy close bilateral relations cemented by common cultural values, history and traditions, were one country under the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland during the British colonial rule.

From Sunday to Tuesday this week, Malawi hosted the 11th Session of the Malawi – Zimbabwe Joint Permanent Commission of Cooperation (JPCC) which, among other things, sought to foster relations of the two countries in areas of trade and investment, tourism, environment, agriculture and mining.

Zimbabwe’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ambassador James Manzou called upon the governments of Malawi and Zimbabwe to remain committed to the implementation of memorandum of understanding (MoUs) signed between the two countries in order to ensure success.

Manzou said there has been good progress in the cooperation as evidenced by the implementation of various MoUs but observed more needs to be done.

“While it is important to point out and highlight areas where we have made progress, we must also reflect on areas where we have failed to move forward.

“Under the economic cluster, we still await progress in the negotiation of agreements in cooperation in agriculture and mining; two very important pillars in the economies of our countries.”

Manzou further said since the resuscitation of the Zimbabwe-Malawi JPCC, more than 20 agreements and MoUs have been exchanged — however, most of these legal instruments have not been finalised.

“In this regard, there is need to conclude these instruments of bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefit of the people of our two countries,” he said.

Malawi’s Principal Secretary responsible for legal in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mary Kachale said there is need to critically examine the progress achieved in the implementation of the MoU and commitments made at the 10th session of the JPCC held in Harare, Zimbabwe in 2020.

“I believe that having a result oriented approach and practical timeframes will enable us make mileage in deriving benefits out of these engagements for sustainable social economic growth that will benefit the people of our two nations,” she said.—Additional reporting by Stanley Nkhondoyachepa & Rosalia Kapiri, MANA