Malawi’s president Bingu wa Mutharika, 78, dies of heart attack

MALAWI’S president Bingu wa Mutharika has died after a heart attack, sources said on Friday.

The 78-year-old was taken to hospital in Lilongwe on Thursday after collapsing but was dead on arrival, the sources said.

But there was no official confirmation from the country’s government on Friday night, with state media issuing a brief statement saying he had been flown to South Africa for treatment.

That could be because of fears of the impact of a power struggle for the top position and the potential constitutional arguments his death may cause.

Medical sources said the former World Bank economist had been flown out of Malawi because an energy crisis in the nation of 13 million meant the Lilongwe state hospital would have been unable to conduct a proper autopsy or even keep his body refrigerated.

Mutharika forged a friendship with former Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell – now Lord McConnell – after the pair signed the Scotland-Malawi Cooperation Agreement in 2005.

But many Malawians blame Mutharika personally for the country’s economic woes.

“We know he is dead and unfortunately he died at a local, poor hospital which he never cared about – no drugs, no power,” said Chimwemwe Phiri, a businessman waiting in a queue for fuel at a petrol station.

As rumours of the death of the self-styled “economist-in-chief” swept the capital, there were pockets of drunken jubilation among those who criticised his rule for turning back the clock on 18 years of democracy in the “Warm Heart of Africa”.

“I am yet to see anyone shedding a tear for Bingu,” said Martin Mlenga, another businessman. “We all wished him dead, sorry to say that.”

The political implcation of his death are far from straight forward.

The constitution states vice-president Joyce Banda should take over as head of state. But a smooth transition has not been assured since Ms Banda was booted out of Mutharika’s ruling DPP party in 2010.

Mutharika appeared to have been grooming his brother Peter, who was also foreign minister, as his successor.

A government source said the cabinet was divided as to whether to hand over to Ms Banda, a renowned women’s rights activist who has formed her own party.

“We are split over this and it’s now taking too long and people are becoming more and more anxious,” the official said.

Former attorney general Ralph Kasambara said the army or police were unlikely to step in. “The army has been very professional,” Mr Kasambara, now a human rights activist, said.

Mutharika came to power in 2004 and presided over a 7-year boom – underpinned by foreign aid – that made Malawi one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

The good times ended last year after a spat with Britain, Malawi’s biggest donor, that led to diplomatic expulsions and the freezing of millions of pounds of aid.

That came after Britain’s diplomatic representative in the country was said to have labelled Mutharika “autocratic and intolerant of criticism” in a memo released by WikiLeaks. Malawi described the language as “undiplomatic” and expelled Fergus Cochrane-Dyet from the country. William Hague followed suit and expelled Malawi’s High Commissioner.

The aid freeze exacerbated an already acute money shortage, hampering imports of fuel, food and medicines.

Malawi’s situation worsened last July when the United States shelved a $350 million overhaul of the national power grid after police killed 20 people involved in anti-government protests.