Uhuru congratulates incoming Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera

President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a congratulatory message to Malawi’s new president Lazarus Chakwera who was sworn in for a five-year term on Sunday.

Chakwera, 65, won 58.57% of the vote in Tuesday’s poll, a dramatic reversal of the result of the original election in May 2019, which was later overturned by the courts.

Below is President Kenyatta’s full message to his Malawi counterpart:

Excellency and Dear Brother,

It is with a great sense of joy that we join our Malawi brothers and sisters in celebrating your victory as the incoming President of the Republic of Malawi following the Tuesday presidential election. On behalf of the Government and the people of the Republic of Kenya and indeed on my own behalf, I wish to convey my warmest congratulations on your well-deserved victory.

The mandate our Malawi brothers and sisters have given you is a clear expression of the confidence they have in your able leadership. It is also 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, 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 our two Republics, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

Excellency, 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.

As you embark on your new responsibilities, Your Excellency, I wish you good health and success, and look forward to working with you for the progress of our two nations and our motherland Africa.

H.E Uhuru Kenyatta,

President of the Republic of Kenya.