Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera to be chief guest on Mashujaa Day

Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera

Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera. 

Photo credit: File | AFP

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera will arrive in Kenya on Tuesday October 19, 2021, State House has announced. 

He will be in Kenya for a three-day state visit.

Mr Chakwera, who will be accompanied by his wife Monica, will be the chief guest at this year's Mashujaa Day celebrations at Wang'uru Stadium in Kirinyaga County on October 20, 2021.

After that, he will be received by President Uhuru Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta on Thursday. 

Chakwera, a former evangelical preacher, came into office in June last year after winning the election against incumbent Peter Mutharika. 

He led Malawi's oldest party, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which ruled the country between 1964 to 1994 under Hastings Banda's one-party rule.

Chakwera was named Lazarus after the biblical character who was raised from the dead.

He took degrees in philosophy and theology, was president of the Malawi Assemblies of God from 1989 to 2013 and then became the MCP's leader.

Additional reporting by AFP