Tycoon Jack Pemba in attendance during Malawi President’s inauguration, markets Museveni

Uganda tycoon Jack Pemba was one of the special invites that marked a 100-man audience for the inauguration ceremony of Malawi’s new president Dr. Lazarus Chakwera in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital.

The socialite is on the rise and claims to have the Malawi President on speed dial.

According to an invitation card seen by the Nile Post, Pemba was invited as a special friend of Chakwera and the Malawi government.

“The Office of the President and Cabinet requests the pleasure of the company of Mr. Jackson Akim Pemba to the Presidential Inauguration 2020 of His Excellency Dr. Lazarus Macathy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi and Rt. Hon. Dr. Sauloa Klaus Chilima, Vice President of the Republic of Malawi,” Pemba’s invite read.

Pemba got special clearance to leave the country after undertaking a Covid-19 test at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, whose results came out negative.

Chakwera while being inaugurated called for national sacrifice to transform his country.

The president has initially lost the election to Peter Mutharika but the election was annulled by Malawi's top court over "widespread and systematic" irregularities and a re-run election was held on 23 June.

Chakwera, 65, comfortably beat Peter Mutharika with 58.5% of the vote, marking the first time in African history that an election re-run led to the defeat of an incumbent.

A triumphant Chakwera gave a rousing speech after receiving the sword of command from the army general Peter Namathanga in the capital Lilongwe on Monday.

"We must have the courage to face and endure the pain if we ever want to enjoy wholeness as a nation," said the former evangelical preacher, who campaigned on rooting out corruption and reviving the economy of the aid-dependent southern African country.

"We must each accept that in the context of Malawi's recovery and transformation... We are each in some way part of Malawi's problems and must each in some way be part of her solution."

As part of a push to curb executive power, he committed to publishing a declaration of assets every year as well as address parliament over his actions.

"Before we can begin to rebuild, we must clear the rubble of corruption," he said, also singling out "laziness", "donor dependency", "unprofessionalism", "incompetence" and the "impunity" of those in power.

The inauguration, held at Malawi's army headquarters named after founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda, was attended by only 100 guests and coincided with the country's 56th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Chakwera canceled planned independence day celebrations over the weekend and his inauguration ceremony was drastically scaled back following a spike in coronavirus infections.