By Chikumbutso Mtumodzi
Bingu wa Mutharika, Ex-World Bank economist, first known as champion of the poor, but later blamed for Malawi’s economic woes, died at the age of 78.
Bingu wa Mutharika presided over a boom-and-bust period for Malawi. Bingu was a polarising figure in Malawi’s history, often praised for his efforts to end corruption, but also lambasted by critics for being arrogant and autocratic.
Elected president in 2004, Mutharika was re-elected to power in 2009 with a resounding victory based on his reputation as a champion of the poor. Mutharika died of a heart attack in April, 2012, aged 78.
During his first term, Mutharika, a former World Bank economist, earned praise for helping millions of the country’s poor farmers by subsidising agricultural products. Yet international donors warned that the government could not afford such a large-scale programme, and his relations with the public began to sour in his second term.
Mutharika’s second term was plagued by economic uncertainty and political infighting that caused disdain and anger toward the government. In 2011, popular protests over rising prices and fuel shortages resulted in riots and looting in which at least 19 people were killed.
In April, 2011, Mutharika expelled the British ambassador to Malawi over criticism revealed in a leaked diplomatic cable published by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. In response, the UK halted all aid to Malawi on the grounds that the Malawian government had mishandled the economy.
Political rivalries were also a hallmark of his second term. In 2010, he expelled his deputy, Joyce Banda, from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), although she remained his vice president. Many saw Mutharika’s decision to remove Banda as a way for him to groom his brother, Peter Mutharika, the country’s then foreign minister, as the DPP presidential candidate in 2014 elections.
Born Ryson Webster Thom in the tea-growing district of Thyolo in 1934, the schoolmaster’s son adopted the African name of “Bingu Wa Mutharika” during the 1960s when pan-Africanism was sweeping the continent. Mutharika served as a civil servant during the reign of Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who had led the country to independence from Britain in 1964.
Mutharika later fled the country fearing a political crackdown. His self-imposed exile took him to Zambia, India and the US, where he obtained a doctorate in economics. After the election defeat of Banda in 1994, and the restoration of multi-party democracy, Mutharika returned to Malawi as a leading member of the United Democratic Front, which by 2004, UDF was the governing party of Malawi under the presidency of Bakili Muluzi.
Subsequently, Mutharika resigned from the party amid disagreements with Muluzi, founding the DPP and winning the presidency with a landslide victory in 2009 elections.
Mutharika fathered four children by his Zimbabwe-born wife Ethel, who died in 2007. In 2010, he married Callista Chapola-Chimombo, a former tourism minister.
