President Lazarus Chakwera says he has spoken with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa on the expulsion of Malawian diplomats.
The Malawi Leader says he has assured Ramaphosa that the conduct of the expelled individuals does not represent the values of his government and Malawians.
“I assured him that the conduct of these individuals does not represent the values of my Administration and the Malawian people, nor does it reflect the cordial and warm bilateral relations between our two countries,” said Chakwera.
He added that expulsion incident, his government had already been served with letters of recall most missions to come back home.
“In the meantime, I am pleased to report that even before this unfortunate incident, all the bad apples in our foreign missions had already been served with letters of recall to come back home,” said Chakwera.
The President said those who have been chosen to be deployed as Malawi’s representatives around the world will do the country proud by the integrity of their conduct.
He added that the selection process has been thorough, legal, meticulous, and objective, prioritising national interests, which is a departure from the past practice of filling the embassies with cronies sent without due process or due diligence.
“As such, I assure you all that the stain that has been brought on our country by these undeserving and unprofessional individuals will soon be a thing of the past.
“I also expect that upon their return, they will be kept very far away from our foreign service,” said Chakwera.
Over the weekend, the Public Appointments Committee of Parliament (PAC) confirmed six heads of mission to different countries.
Those confirmed are Dr Thomas John Bisika – London, England; Mr. Charles Peter Msosa- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dr Agnes Mary Chimbiri- New York, USA; Ms. Stella Hauya- Pretoria, South Africa; Ms. Esme Janet Chombo- Washing DC, USA and Mr. Allan Joseph Chimtedza- Beijing.
South Africa declared persona non grata the Malawian diplomats on a conduct of abusing their diplomatic privileges as they were reportedly found guilty of engaging in illicit trade in duty-free alcohol.
