Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika on Friday said that his trip to Swaziland would further strengthen the relationship and friendship existing between two SADC states.
Speaking during his departure at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe to Mbabane, Swaziland, to attend that country’s 40th Independence celebrations and King Mswati III’s 40th birthday, he said the two countries have had close ties for a long time since before the colonial era.
"Our relations started from a cultural background when the Ngoni ethnic group, mainly from Ntcheu (a district in central Malawi) arrived here from Swaziland and settled in Malawi," he said.
He added that Malawi’s ties with Swaziland also date back to the formation of the Common Market for East and Central Africa (COMESA) as its secretary general while King Mswati was the chair of the 20-member states grouping.
The president, who left COMESA in 1994 as its secretary general to join politics, returns home on Sunday.
Friday, 5 September 2008
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