State House has trashed a story carried by Nation Newspaper of Friday 2014 that President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika ignored the presence of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President Dr Lazarus Chakwera during the official opening of HTD Showroom house in the commercial capital Blantyre, saying this was due to physical burrier.

According the statement from the State House released on Friday afternoon signed by Presidential Press Secretary Fredrick Ndala states that, Mutharika did not ignored Chakwera as reported by the Nation Newspaper but he failed to give him a handshake because of a burrier.

The statement further trashes the perception created by the daily paper that the relationship between the President and Chakwera is not cordial.

“It is our belief that if The Nation newspaper had done thorough investigations, it would have learnt that the President actually had problems in greeting former President Bakili Muluzi who was sitting adjacent to the President due to the barrier in the VVIP platform. He did not see Right Hon. Chakwera because of the barrier.

“All people present at the event saw how the barrier made it difficult for the President to interact with Muluzi. This barrier, is, therefore, a physical one and does not exist in the so-called barrier in the President’s psyche as insinuated by The Nation newspaper”, reads in part the statement.

Ndala further said that the salutation document was handed over to the President as he was about to speak and as such he genuinely missed Right Hon. Dr. Chakwera’s name and a few other names at the event.

“The presence of Right Hon. Chakwera alone in the same VVIP platform with the President is enough evidence of the President’s desire to work with the Opposition.

“State House, therefore, would like to urge the media to be more objective and professional in their reportage and desist from being sensational and pitting the President against other political leaders in the country”, continues the statement.

Ndala also urged The Nation to refrain from reporting on non-issues and positively report on substantive matters aimed at building the nation.