(NYASA TIMES) Mutharika will not apologise to Sata,lifts entry ban

Mutharika will not apologise to Sata,lifts entry ban
By Wanga Gwede, Nyasa Times
September 29, 2011

Malawi government is adamant that President Bingu wa Mutharika will not offer public apology to Zambia’s newly-elected president Michael Sata for what happened in 2007 when Lilongwe declared him a prohibited immigrant.

Sata has demanded an apology for the humiliation he suffered when he was arrested at Chileka international Airport in Blantyre 15 March, 2007 on orders from President Mutharika when he flew into Malawi to hold talks with former president Bakili Muluzi.

According to his Malawian lawyer Ralph Kasambara, no reasons were given for his arrest but he was detained for several hours at Blantyre Police Station, where he was declared Persona Non Grata (PNG) or Prohibited Immigrant (PI) and then bundled in a police vehicle, driven 500 kilometres to be dumped at Chipata on the Malawi-Zambia border.

Sata: Demands apology

Sata sued Malawi government for defamation and wrongful detention.

But government spokesperson Patricia Kaliati said Lilongwe will not issue an apology because the status and circumstances in which Sata was expelled from Malawi and his current position of head of state are different.

“Sata is His Excellency the President now he was a private citizen in 2007. What happen then had nothing to do with Zambia,” said Kaliati.

She said Lilongwe will have talks with Lusaka on any diplomatic misunderstandings.

Kaliati also clarified that Sata is allowed to visit Malawi and will be treated as a VVIP and not as a prohibited immigrant in Malawi because of his current status as head of state and government.

Her comments were also underscored by presidential spokesperson Hetherwick Ntaba who explained that according to international protocol, a head of State cannot be a prohibited immigrant in a country.

“Therefore, any pre-existing status in Malawi-Zambia or anywhere that contradicts President Sata’s present status as Head of State automatically falls off de fact or otherwise,” said Ntaba in a statement.

“Under such circumstances, the fear of immigration embarrassment in Malawi for President Sata cannot arise in international diplomacy.”

Kasambara disclosed this week that President Sata would not be coming to Malawi to attend Comesa summit for Heads of State from October 14 because he of the deportation he faced in 2007 as his case is yet to be determined by Justice Healy Potani.

Malawi has never disclosed the reasons why it deported Sata.

Under Mutharika leadership, Malawi has strained ties with neighbouring Mozambique and downgrading dipolamtic relations with Zambia would be regrettable to the country which has enjoyed cordial relations with other states since independence 47 years ago.