Malawi state President, Lazarus Chakwera says he is optimistic that the good relationship between his county and that of Mozambican government, will continue gaining momentum and benefit its citizens in return.

Chakwera said this at the University of Malawi in Zomba on Wednesday when the University conferred Mozambican President, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi a Doctor of Philosophy in International Affairs and Diplomacy for recognizing his great work in international relations.

“But beyond the personal achievements, this award is also a celebration of the new chapter in cordial relations between Malawi and Mozambique, to which President Nyusi’s leadership has been most instrumental,” “in giving him this recognition, we acknowledge that the journey towards deeper cooperation, mutual understanding, and collective prosperity that Malawi and Mozambique have enjoyed in the past four years is a huge milestone,” said Chakwera.

Chakwera, went on to say that the honorary doctorate will play a very big role in uniting the two countries saying that even though the countries have been sharing a common border, culture, and geography for decades, that affinity and proximity have not always translated into warm relations between the two countries and their people.

“It took President Nyusi’s leadership to change all that. It took his prowess in diplomacy to recognize that with the new Administration in Malawi, an opportunity to transform the relationship between our countries had emerged and needed to be leverage and maximized to change the diplomatic status quo between our countries,” said Chakwera.

In his acceptance speech, the now Dr Filipo Jacinto Nyusi thanked the University of Malawi for recognizing his works and promised to put such an honor into full use.

Just as Chakwera, Nyusi said he is optimistic that the two countries will continue enjoying the warm international relationship and that time is here that the two countries treat each other as brothers and sisters.

“I fully accept the honorary with much respect and hopes that this will take our relationship ahead from where it is now. It’s not only about Nyusi, but this is about people of Mozambique and we need to love one another as brothers,” he said.

Born on 9th February in 1959, President Nyusi is the Mozambican 4th President after elected in power in October 2014. Before elected as the President of Mozambique, President Dr Philip Nyusi had served the country as the minister of National defense.

For the past 59 years of University of Malawi’s existence, President Dr Philip Jacinto Nyusi is the third person to be given the Honoris Causa award.