Controversy has trailed the comments made by Lazarus Chakwera, the president of Malawi, moments before he travelled to the United Kingdom (UK) to attend the Global Education Summit on Financing Global Partnership for Education (GPE) 2021-2025.

Although organisers of the summit allowed a small in-person event in London, the Malawian president cited “unreliable internet connection” in his country as the reason he is embarking on the trip.

The conference, according to organisers, is a largely virtual summit scheduled to take off on July 28.

Details on its website shows that: “The summit runs over 2 days, starting at 14:00 BST on July 28. Four thematic sessions run concurrently on our virtual program, each with an exciting roster of speakers.

“On July 29, the hybrid summit – live in London and virtual starts at 10:00 BST,” the organisation said.

Mr Chakwera, however, blamed poor internet connection as the reason he is attending the conference physically.

“Even though the said summit is virtual, the president needs to be in the UK physically as you know internet connection in Malawi is not reliable,” Malawi’s presidential spokesperson told local journalists.

The Malawian president is said to have arrived London in the early hours of Monday with his wife and daughter as part of a 10-person entourage to attend the summit.

The UK rejected Malawi’s proposed 61-person entourage to participate in the summit.