Three weeks abroad, and Malawi's legal community has a clear answer: President Peter Mutharika's extended stay in South Africa does not break any constitutional rule. Legal experts have weighed in, and the consensus is that his time outside the country falls within the bounds of what the Constitution permits.
That said, not everyone is fully satisfied. Some voices in the legal space have raised concerns, not about the legality of the trip itself, but about how it was communicated to the public. Transparency, they suggest, is where the conversation really needs to happen.
For many Malawians watching closely, the distinction between what is legal and what feels right to citizens is the thread worth pulling. The law may be on Mutharika's side, but the question of how leaders speak to their people when they step away is far from settled.
Originally published by AllAfrica.