Mutharika shuns Tanzania new President inauguration

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Peter Mutharika

Malawi President Prof. Arthur Mutharika has shunned the inauguration of Tanzania President elect John Magufuli.

In a statement released by the office of the President, the Malawi leader will not be in Tanzania on Thursday when Tanzania’s outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete will be handing over the reigns of power to his successor John Magufuli.

Saulos Chilima
Chilima delegated

Earlier this year, President Mutharika left a country affected by floods to attend the inauguration of Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.

However the statement that Mutharika has released shows that he is not hungry for the Tanzanian inauguration. Mutharika has instead delegated his Vice President Saulos Chilima to stand in for him at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Relationships between Malawi and Tanzania took a knock after the suggestions that Lake Malawi might contain oil deposits. Tanzania started to claim that they owned over half of the lake, remarks which Malawi did not like.

However a source in state house has said that President Mutharika is not going to Tanzania as a cost cutting measure.