President Arthur Peter Mutharika has once again delegated Second Vice President Enock Kanzingeni Chihana to represent Malawi at a virtual SADC Heads of State and Government Summit.
Chihana will attend the Extraordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government on Monday, June 29, 2026, which will be held virtually under the chairmanship of South African President and SADC Chairperson Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa.
The summit will bring together leaders from the 16 SADC member states to deliberate on the political and security situation in Madagascar.
Discussions will be guided by a report from the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, whose meeting was chaired by Chihana last week on behalf of President Mutharika.
The virtual meeting is expected to begin at 5:00 p.m. Malawi time.
The latest assignment comes only days after Mutharika also delegated Chihana to represent him at the Extraordinary SADC Organ Troika Summit, another key regional meeting focused on peace, security and governance in Southern Africa.
The repeated delegations come amid growing criticism that President Mutharika has increasingly opted to send Cabinet ministers and other senior government officials to major public events instead of attending them himself or assigning either of his two Vice Presidents, Jane Ansah and Chihana.
The criticism intensified recently after Mutharika delegated Minister of Education Bright Msaka to represent him at a memorial service for late former Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima in Ntcheu.
The decision raised eyebrows because both Vice Presidents, Ansah and Chihana, were in attendance at the same event, prompting critics to question why a Cabinet minister, rather than one of the country’s two deputy presidents, was chosen to represent the Head of State.
