9 envoys present credentials

 President Lazarus Chakwera on Thursday received letters of credence from nine diplomats who pledged their commitment to strengthen their countries’ diplomatic ties with Malawi.

Those who presented their credentials at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe are Botswana’s Sarah Sithabile Molosiwa, E-swatini’s Mlondi Dlamini, Serge-Didier Bapaga Tepupileka from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Shibru Mamo Kedida of Ethiopia, Hissein Bahine of Iran, Enrico De Agostini of Italy, Emma Dunlop-Bennet of New Zealand, Marie Charlotte Tand of the Phillipines and Slovakia Republic’s Vladimir Glacz.

Speaking later, new Botswana High Commisioner Molosiwa said her goal will be to enrich the diplomatic ties between Malawi and her country.

She said she will ensure that the Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation (JPCC) between Malawi and Botswana is resuscitated.

Said Molosiwa: “I am going to work with the Malawi Government to ensure that the JPCC is resuscitated. We have approximately 22 memoranda of understanding between Malawi and Botswana that have to be signed. These go across all sectors of the economy such as education, health, agriculture and mining.”

She added that it is encouraging that Malawi has already shown interest to open a diplomatic mission in Botswana. Currently, Malawi’s High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, based in Harare, also serves Botswana.

On his part, De Agostini said Italy has been a friend of Malawi for a very long time as evidenced by the many Catholic churches across the country.

Dunlop-Bennet, on the other hand, told Chakwera that New Zealand and Malawi will need to work together in areas of climate change, human rights and people-to-people partnerships. “Our relationship as countries is warm but it can do with some strengthening. Apart from climate change and human rights, we are also interested in strengthening the areas of people to people links,” she said.