OPC says APM’s SA trips details not for public

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Justin Saidi says government will not disclose details of President Peter Mutharika’s private travels.

In a written response last week, Saidi dismissed critics’ questions about the nature of the trips as propaganda.

“Private is private. It is not public. Elsewhere, it is the same thing,” he said.

“There are people out there bent on propaganda, but that will not help.”

Saidi: Private is private.

I Nation

The response comes on the back of five private trips to South Africa the President has made since taking office in October 2025 following the September 16 General Election.

Records show the President first travelled on December 1 2025 for 14 days, then on March 1 2026 for 11 days, June 12 for 17 days, August 5 for 11 days, and again on October 6 2026.

The latest trip was announced after departure, a break from the usual practice of informing the public in advance.

Saidi maintained the trips remain private and government is under no obligation to release further details.

However, University of Malawi associate professor of political science Boniface Dulani said while the President retains private rights, he is also Head of State entrusted with public power; hence, the need for Malawians to get information about Mutharika’s private travels to avoid speculation.

He cited Article 12(1) of the Constitution, which provides that “all legal and political authority of the State derives from the people and shall be exercised in accordance with this Constitution solely to serve and protect their interests.”

“Nature abhors a vacuum. In the absence of information, the public will fill the vacuum with speculation, innuendo and insinuations,” Dulani said, adding there is need to for government to disclose the purpose, cost and duration of the trips.

Human Rights Defenders Coalition executive director Michael Kaiyatsa said personal privacy cannot be a blanket excuse for secrecy.

“If the trips are genuinely private, government should at least clarify whether they are privately or publicly funded, without disclosing sensitive personal details. Where public resources are involved, accountability is not optional,” he said.

Mutharika, who won the 2025 election with 3 035 249 votes (56.8 percent) against Lazarus Chakwera’s 1 765 170 (33 percent), previously served as President from 2014 to 2020 before losing the court-ordered Fresh Presidential Election.

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