Former Malawi president Bakili Muluzi on Wednesday left for a medical in South Africa a frustrated man, claiming President Bingu wa Mutharika has ignored his two requests for an audience.
But presidential spokesperson Hetherwick Ntaba said he has no information on Muluzi’s requests to meet the President.
Briefing journalists before departure at Chileka International Airport in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, Muluzi said upon arrival from his previous medical trip, he requested for an audience with Mutharika to inform him about his appointment as ambassador for peace and good governance in Africa.
Muluzi said he also asked to meet the President immediately after he recently brokered peace with Zambian President Michael Sata which was also not granted.
Said Muluzi: “I really don’t know where the problem is because when I was appointed the Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, I wanted the President to know first.
“Even this time, when I had met President Sata and he [Sata] had requested me to convey a message to President Mutharika, I also requested for an audience, I have not been granted again.â€Â
Asked if there is a problem between him and his successor, Muluzi said: “It is up to him to explain, but I have no problem with him and I want to believe that he has no problem with me.”
Muluzi said although Mutharika and his government have refused to recognise his efforts to reconcile Lilongwe and Lusaka, he is happy to learn that the Malawi leader and his Zambian counterpart met in South Africa last week.
He also said he was thankful to government for always facilitating his medical trips. However, he said this time around, like any other Malawian, he has struggled to source forex for use while at the hospital.
On his medical at Medi Clinic in Cape Town, Muluzi said he would be seeing a specialist from the United States of America on Friday and that he does not know for how long he will be in hospital.
