Leaders must respect rule of law - Malawi's Chakwera

Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera is on a visit to Zambia and journalists there have been trying to pin him down on his views about politics in the region.

They asked him about the reported deterioration of human rights in Zimbabwe, and his response was a call for the respect of divergent views.

"At this particular stage, I may have nothing much to say. I do have an outstanding meeting with President [Emmerson] Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe," he said.

"We must respect the rule of law, we must respect human rights, we must respect respect contrary views everywhere," he added.

"This is what makes us advance as democracies. And so, in as much as I cannot address specific issues, these are principles that we want to live by everywhere, particularly here in Africa as one people."

President Chakwera was elected in May after the Constitutional Court nullified the results of an earlier election that had declared Peter Mutharika as winner.