The Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has challenged President Lazarus Chakwera to come out in the open and tell Malawians the reasons why Malawi needs former British Prime Minister (PM) Tony Blair as an advisor.

The development follows a private visit by Blair who also held private meeting with Chakwera at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe.

Briefing the media in Lilongwe CDEDI executive director Sylvester Namiwa said Blair’s visit to Malawi has raised a lot of suspicions, especially now that President Chakwera is the SADC Chairperson.

“As they say, show me your friends and I will tell you who you are, the friendship that exists between Kagame and Blair is a cause for worry for us to see our leader joining the league.

“It is against this background that we are challenging President Chakwera to come out in the open and tell Malawians the reasons why we need Tony Blair in Malawi as an advisor, when the voters gave him all the trust and power to govern for the next five years,” said Namiwa.

But in his response, acting presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda has dispelled CDEDI’s demands saying they are baseless allegations.

He said: “It is strange that the word sneaked into the country is being used, the underlying fact in his visit is that he was on a private visit, not only in Malawi, but he is visiting this part of Africa.

“It is very sad that once again CDEDI is making such wild allegations, allegations that have no basis at all in fact and far removed from reality on the ground,” he said.

Apart from owning the Tony Blair Institute, the former PM serves as an unpaid advisor to the Rwandan President Paul Kagame.