President Lazarus Chakwera is today expected to leave for the 77th United Nations General Assembly (Unga) scheduled to take place in New York, United States of America (USA) with a stopover in Kenya.

The Unga will open tomorrow at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in the first physical attendance format since Covid-19 broke out in 2019 and this will be Chakwera’s first attendance in person.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement published on its official social media platforms on Saturday that the President will address the general assembly on September 22 2022.

To hold over 40 other engagements: Chakwera

Reads the statement: “Apart from addressing the general assembly, His Excellency the President will hold more than 40 other engagements over the course of 15 days, including high-level meetings with world leaders and heads of various international institutions all geared towards mobilising over a billion dollars in resources for various sectors in Malawi.”

The statement said Chakwera will make a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya, to attend the inauguration of Kenya’s President-elect William Ruto on September 13 2022.

The statement further said the President, who has previously attended Unga virtually on two occasions, is expected to return home on October 2 2022.

And addressing the media on Friday in Lilongwe, Minister of Foreign affairs Nancy Tembo said the Malawi Government-sponsored members on the delegation are 37 and that others are sponsored by various organisations.

She said: “It is the first time this is happening as our delegation has always been about 90.”

But Tembo, who was accompanied by Minister of Information and Digitisation Gospel Kazako and Minister of Education Agnes NyaLonje, kept a tight lid on how much the taxpayer will pay for the trip.

The opening session of the meeting will take place on September 13 this year and the theme for the assembly is ‘A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges’.

The general debate on the theme will be held from September 20 to 26 2022.

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