We're brothers, Bingu tells Sata

We're brothers, Bingu tells Sata
By Chibaula Silwamba in Mangaung in South Africa
Tue 10 Jan. 2012, 14:00 CAT

WE are brothers, Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika told President Michael Sata yesterday.

Sata and Mutharika, who have been regarded as archrivals over the last four years since the unceremonious hounding out of the then Zambian opposition leader from Malawi in 2007, met and held a lengthy chat in the VVIP lounge at Bloemfontein Military base airport before their departure after attending South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) 100th anniversary cerebrations on Sunday.

President Sata arrived at the airport shortly before 09:00 hours and as he waited for other presidents - Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza and Congo Brazzaville's Denis Sassou Nguesso, among others - who had been there earlier to leave, Mutharika arrived.

After the South African protocol personnel ushered President Mutharika into the VVIP lounge and gave him a set of seats where he and his delegation were to sit, his aides told him that President Sata was there.

Seventy-eight-year-old Mutharika, who uses a walking-stick, walked to where 74-year-old Sata and first lady Dr Christine Kaseba were and hugged the Zambian President.

"We are brothers," President Mutharika was heard telling President Sata and they both laughed.

The duo started talking in Nyanja, a language spoken both in Zambia and Malawi.

President Sata, who had earlier met, hugged and chatted with Malawi's information minister and government spokesperson Patricia Kaliati in the same lounge before President Mutharika's arrival, asked the Malawian leader about Kaliati.

"Where is your talk time woman?" President Sata asked President Mutharika, and Kaliati quickly walked to where the duo was standing.

Kaliati knelt before Presidents Sata and Mutharika.

Then President Sata remarked: "This is your talk woman?", amidst laughter.

President Mutharika said: "Information is talk woman, thus a nice one."

President Sata responded: "Yes, that is talk woman. She has too much talk time. She does not need a microphone."

President Mutharika, who continually laughed, said, "Yes, she doesn't need a microphone. That is a nice one."

Then President Sata said: "I was telling her that I have a man who is like her. I have even added more responsibility to him to be minister of tourism."

President Sata was referring to information, broadcasting and tourism minister Given Lubinda, who is Zambia's chief government spokesperson.

Presidents Sata and Mutharika then chatted about their pending flights.

President Sata told President Mutharika that: "We are stopping in Johannesburg."

At that point, President Mutharika's spokesperson Dr Hetherwick Ntaba and other Malawian government officials came forth to greet President Sata.

"Ali bwanji? Muli ba ku Malawi? How are you? Are you from Malawi?" asked President Sata as the officials responded in the affirmative.

Earlier in an interview, Kaliati said the hug between Presidents Mutharika and Sata showed that the relationship between the two heads of state was good.

"We do respect the President of Zambia and Malawians respect the President of Malawi," Kaliati said.

"If we were enemies, would we chat with the President of Zambia? Could the President of Zambia hug the President of Malawi? No! We are friends. The past is the past. That is water under the bridge."

She urged the media to be fair and not misrepresent the facts about the relations between Malawi and Zambia.

"You media people should not be putting fire on these two governments. We are one people. Your responsibility is to make sure that you unite the two countries to be countries of goodwill for the benefit of the people of Zambia and Malawi," said Kaliati.

President Mutharika's government unceremoniously deported President Sata from Malawi in 2007 when he was opposition leader.

He had gone to meet former president of Malawi Bakili Muluzi, who was sick at the time.

President Sata has since forgiven President Mutharika.