Mnangagwa jets in for 3-day State visit

Zimbabwe President Emerson Mnangagwa arrived in the country yesterday for a three-day State visit at the invitation of President Lazarus Chakwera.

The visit comes at the end of a Joint Permanent Commission of Cooperation (JPCC) between Malawi and Zimbabwe in Lilongwe on Tuesday.

Soon after his arrival through Kamuzu International Airport  (KIA) yesterday, Mnangagwa was granted freedom of the City of Lilongwe at the Civic Offices by Mayor Richard Banda.

Accompanied by Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima, the Zimbabwe leader received a dummy key from the mayor and signed  in the visitors’ book.

 In a brief speech, Mnangagwa thanked the Lilongwe City mayor for the warm welcome. He then handed him a gift as a token of appreciation.

Said the Zimbabwe leader: “As per custom and tradition of the Mwenemutapa Kingdom, we carry gifts to the host, therefore, I am giving you a crocodile skin as a gift.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Mnangagwa will carry out several engagements in the country including holding bilateral talks with President Chakwera.

 “The State visit will consolidate the already strong Malawi-Zimbabwe bilateral relations which are based on mutual interest to uplift the standards of living of the people of the two countries, historical ties, traditional people-to-people exchanges, and shared interests in international socio-economic and geo-political developments across the globe,” reads the statement.

Today, the Zimbabwe President is expected to visit Malawi Parliament, Kamuzu Mausoleum and some areas that were affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy, among other engagements.

He will depart Malawi through Chileka International Airport on Friday, June 2 2023.

The visit is Mnangagwa’s first since his election in 2017.

He succeeded Zimbabwe’s long serving president the late Robert Mugabe.