Tanzania President jets in today
Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan will arrive in the country today for a three-day State visit where she is also expected to be the guest of honour at the Independence Day Celebrations tomorrow.
Tanzania was one of the first countries to provide $1million support to Malawi towards national disaster caused by Cyclone Freddy in March this year.
Suluhu also provided two heavy-duty helicopters and 100 service men for search and rescue mission as well as assorted relief items for cyclone survivors in southern Malawi.
Her first engagement will be a visit to Parliament this morning where she is expected to plant a tree. Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara is scheduled to welcome Suluhu, according to Parliament’s public relations office.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued yesterday, says the Tanzanian leader will later in the afternoon attend a National Service of Worship at the Bingu International Convention Centre.
The prayers are part of the pre-Independence Day Celebrations activities.
Tomorrow, Suluhu will join the Independence Day Celebrations at Bingu National Stadium. This year’s Independence Day Celebrations will be held under the theme ‘Celebrating Renewed Unity and Patriotism’.
Reads part of the statement: “The State visit will also consolidate the already strong Malawi-Tanzania bilateral relations which are based on historical ties, mutual interests to promote the living standards of the people of the two countries, traditional people-to-people exchanges and a common interest in regional and global cooperation.”
Suluhu is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Chakwera and will later visit areas that were devastated by effects of Cyclone Freddy before her departure on Friday through Chileka International Airport in Blantyre.
She will arrive this morning through Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe.
The Tanzanian President becomes the second foreign Head of State to visit areas devastated by the cyclone.
The first was Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa in June this year.
During his three-day State visit, Mnangagwa urged Southern African Development Community countries to find strategies for mitigating effects of climate change, citing Cyclone Freddy effects as ravaging beyond imagination.
The celebrations are expected to cost the Malawi Government K320 million.
Malawi gained independence from British rule on July 6 1964.
