Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Wildlife Michael Usi on Tuesday, May 24th visited former President Peter Mutharika at his retirement home in Mangochi.

Usi said he met Mutharika to discuss issues surrounding the resting place of Bingu wa Mutharika in Ndata,Thyolo.

Usi, who was accompanied by senior officials from his ministry, confirmed in an interview that he had fruitful discussions with the former President.

The minister’s visit comes after Mutharika, through his spokesperson Shadric Namalomba, issued a statement reacting to a directive President Lazarus Chakwera gave to Usi to ensure Mpumulo wa Bata is taken care of.

“Prof. Mutharika is grateful to the President for the directive to re-engage the family over the Bingu mausoleum. He showed statesmanship. There were some issues which we should be able to solve and quickly move forward,” Usi said.

In his statement, Mutharika described Chakwera’s directive as misguiding arguing government through the Ministry of Culture had since 2015 been in negotiations with the Bineth Trust to take care of Mpumulo wa Bata but the negotiations stalled due to a lack of agreement on certain aspects.

Mpumulo wa Bata is part of the property owned by the trust.