West accused of stoking Malawi unrest

MALAWIAN president Bingu wa Mutharika has accused western donors of funding an opposition protest movement that is challenging his increasingly tight grip over the impoverished southern African nation.

Mr Mutharika also urged his supporters to “step in and defend their father rather than just sit back and watch him take crap from donors and rights groups”.

At a ceremony to name a new road in his honour, he said: “This month of March, they are preparing, with some money from donors, to stage demonstrations and vigils.”

Historically, foreign aid has accounted for 40 per cent of Malawi’s budget. But much assistance is suspended due to a police crackdown on protesters in July that killed 20 people and a spat with Britain over a leaked diplomatic cable that called Mr Mutharika “autocratic and intolerant of criticism”.