Uhuru congratulates Malawi’s new president Lazarus Chakwera

President Uhuru Kenyatta has congratulated Malawi opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera upon his election as president.

Dr Chakwera was declared the winner in the rerun vote, beating the incumbent Peter Mutharika.

He received 58.57 per cent of all of the votes in the repeat poll after the Malawi's constitutional court annulled Mr Mutharika's victory in the May 2019 election, citing vote tampering.

He took oath of office Sunday to become the sixth president of the Southeastern African state since it attained independence from the Britain in 1960.

“It is with a great sense of joy that we join our Malawi brothers and sisters in celebrating your victory as the incoming President. On behalf of the government and the people of Kenya and on my own behalf, I wish to convey my warmest congratulations on your well-deserved victory,” President Kenyatta said in a message to President Chakwera.

PROGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP

The Kenyan head of state reminded the new President that the mandate given to him by the people of Malawi is a clear expression of the confidence they have in his leadership and a confirmation of their desire for progressive leadership that will unite and propel their country to greater heights of development.

Kenya and Malawi enjoy warm and historical ties dating back to pre-independence times which has been facilitated by shared aspirations for growth and development, and a strong Pan-Africanist spirit traced back to the work done by the founding fathers of the countries, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

“It is this strong bond of friendship, historical bilateral ties and a shared vision for progress that should form the bedrock of the renewed Kenya-Malawi relations during your tenure in office,” President Kenyatta said.

Kenya’s independence party Kanu also came out strongly to express its support for the new leader and promised to work with him noting that Malawi under his stewardship struts into the future with a new dawn of transformative leadership.

SUSTAINABLE PEACE

“It’s now time to steer the country into the path of sustainable peace while accelerating the much desired socio-economic development, particularly, at a time when the world-nations are grappling with the devastating impacts of Covid-19,” Kanu said in a statement signed by Mr Gideon Moi, its chairman.

“I wish to assure the new President that Kanu is proud to be associated with the victory of Tonse Alliance and the Malawi Congress Party in particular; a party with which we share in common the history, values, and the symbol of the cockerel.”

President Chakwera was a prominent during the funeral plans and burial of second President Daniel arap Moi who died last February and Mr Moi, who is also the Baringo senator, expressed the family’s gratitude to him for having attended the funeral at Kabarak.

“We shall forever remember that very humbling gesture of goodwill at our lowest point,” he said, adding that the election of Dr Chakwera is a moment for the people of Malawi to join hands and re-embark on building their nation to create a flourishing economy with opportunities for all to thrive.