By Draxon Maloya
Malawi. (News of The South) – The Tanzanian president John Magufuli who will arrive in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe on Wednesday is expected to commission the official opening ceremony of this year’s tobacco selling season.
And this will also be the first official visit for the Tanzanian leader to Malawi since elected as the President of the Federal Republic of Tanzania in 2015
Despite making visits to several countries, for some time Magufuli has been skipping a visit to Malawi even when the storm was brewing between the two countries on the wrangles of the Lake Malawi.
Malawi’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and International cooperation has also confirmed the Magufuli visit but could hardly provide tangible reasons about his visit.
“Apart from holding bilateral talks with President Mutharika, His Excellency Dr Magufuli will open the 2019 tobacco market season at the Lilongwe Auction Floors on 25 April 2019,” reads the statement.
The statement further said details about the Tanzanian leaders visit would be announced later.
And commenting on Magufuli’s visit the country’s vice president who is also the torch bearer of the ruling United Transformation Movement (UTM) IN THE May 21 elections, Saulos Chilima praised the Tanzanian leader, describing him as the great son of Africa.
In his four years in power Magufuli’s style of leadership has elicited both admiration and condemnation particularly from the western countries.
Mutharika and Magufuli are yet to meet since the lake boarder wrangle was referred to the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) High Level Mediation Team led by former Mozambican president Joaquim Alberto Chissano and his South African counterpart, Thabo Mbeki.
The Malawi and Tanzania lake boarder wrangle was ignited by the 1982 United Nations convention on the Law of the sea that stipulates that in case where nations are separated by the water bodies, the boundary lies in the middle of the water source.
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