President Mutharika jets off to South Africa on another private visit – sparks fresh round of speculation

President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika has left Malawi for a private visit to South Africa, with officials offering little in the way of explanation over the trip's purpose or how long the president intends to stay away.

According to an official statement signed by Chief Secretary to the Government Dr Justin Saidi, Mutharika departed Malawi today through Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe, bound for South Africa.

In a move likely to spark fresh speculation, the brief statement pointedly failed to reveal either the duration or the purpose of the president's private visit, leaving Malawians guessing over exactly what has taken their head of state across the border.

Officials say further information regarding Mutharika's return to the country will be communicated by the relevant authorities in due course — though no firm timeline has been given.

Background: a trip shrouded in secrecy amid swirling rumours

The low-key departure comes at a particularly sensitive moment for the Mutharika administration, with the president's health having already become the subject of intense public speculation in recent weeks.

Opposition figures, including Malawi Congress Party spokeswoman Dr Jessie Kabwila, have previously demanded the president make a public address to prove his physical fitness, amid persistent rumours questioning his wellbeing.

Those claims were seemingly dampened just days ago when media analyst Dr Bright Mhango declared Mutharika appeared "conspicuously fit, well and composed" during a lengthy state television interview marking his first year back in office.

Any private trip abroad by a sitting president — particularly one offered with so little detail — risks reigniting those very same whispers, especially given Malawi's long and turbulent history of presidential health concerns colliding with political uncertainty.

It is also not the president's first low-profile trip since returning to office. Mutharika previously made a private visit to South Africa earlier in his term, an occasion marked by its own controversy after Vice-President Jane Ansah later claimed she had been deliberately blocked from seeing him off at the airport.

With officials offering no further clarity on this latest departure, all eyes will now be on Kamuzu International Airport for any sign of the president's return — and on whether government breaks its silence before speculation fills the gap left by an unusually sparse official statement.