President Lazarus Chakwera will next week receive a democracy award on behalf of the Malawians on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly in New York, a senior official said on Monday.
State House director of communication Sean Kampondeni said the Africa America Institute gives a prestigious every year to a country whose people the institute believes “have made a significant contribution to the cause of democracy”.
“This year’s honoraries by the Africa American Institute are the Malawian people and so the President has been asked to accept this award to the Malawian people on behalf of the Malawian people,” Kampondeni told journalists during the fortnightly State House media briefing.
The award would be presented during a gala to be held on September 21.
“The President will attend that function virtually and will deliver an acceptance address to the delegates who will be gathered from all over the world in order to pay this special honour to the Malawian people for the resilience over the past two years,” the official said.
The award comes more than a year after Malawians successfully protested against the outcome of a presidential poll held in May 2019 and won by former president Peter Mutharika.
The protests and subsequent court challenge overturned the poll outcome and resulted in fresh elections that were won by Chakwera in June 2020.
JN/APA