Malawi for strong ties with Zimbabwe
Foreign Affairs Minister Nancy Tembo has said Malawi is committed to promoting warm relations with Zimbabwe.
She said this in Lilongwe Monday, when Zimbabweans based in Malawi celebrated the 42nd independence day of their country. The day falls on April 18.
Tembo said, as one way of cementing their relationship, Malawi and Zimbabwe have a number of bilateral agreements.
“There are a lot of agreements between Malawi and Zimbabwe. There are some that keep coming.
These things are emerging all the time. We intend to nurture our ties so that our relationship can grow from strength to strength.
“It is always a happy occasion when people are celebrating independence because people died and fought for the independence people are enjoying today,” Tembo said.
Zimbabwe High Commissioner to Malawi Nancy Saungweme said Zimbabwe and Malawi were bound together by common history and culture.
The envoy said there were mutual opportunities that existed between the two countries in areas such as trade, agriculture, education and tourism.
Saungweme said her country’s independence came at a huge price “with many paying the ultimate price with their life” as the citizens sought to liberate themselves from the yoke of colonialism.
She said Malawians were part of that history.
“We have Malawians who have chosen to make Zimbabwe their home as well as Zimbabweans who have done the same in Malawi. A lot of our people have also intermarried, thereby strengthening the bonds that bind us,” Saungweme said.
Independence day was celebrated under the theme ‘Zim @42 Leaving No one And No Place Behind’.
Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980.
Mathews Kasanda is a journalist who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Malawi (The Polytechnic).
In 2015, Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded him the Best Print Media Education Journalist of the Year accolade.
He joined Times Group Newsroom in September 2019.
