Two African presidents on Saturday joined thousands of Malawians at the funeral of Ethel Mutharika, wife of Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, who died last month after a two-year fight with cancer.
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete, with their wives and aides, travelled to Mutharika's estate at Ndata, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the commercial capital Blantyre, where Ethel was buried in a colourful military ceremony.
Thousands of villagers lined the route from Blantyre to the estate, to pay their last respects to the woman Malawians fondly called the First Lady.
Former president Bakili Muluzi, at loggerheads with Mutharika in a power struggle, and current vice president Cassim Chilumpha, awaiting treason trial for an alleged attempt to assassinate the president, attended the ceremony, which lasted more than five hours.
Leaders of the country's powerful opposition, including John Tembo, also attended the funeral, which was broadcast live on state television and radio.
Ethel was married to Mutharika for 37 years. The couple had four children.
Showing posts with label Mutharika. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mutharika. Show all posts
Saturday, 9 June 2007
Friday, 8 June 2007
Malawi's memorials to late first lady raise eyebrows
Malawi has pulled out the stops to mourn its late first lady, mounting a multimillion-dollar memorial roadshow that critics say is a political ploy by her embattled husband, President Bingu wa Mutharika.
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Ethel Mutharika, 63, died last week after a long struggle with cancer and the government quickly declared a month of official mourning for a woman well known for her charity work with orphans.
Since then, however, the government's memorial plans have grown into what many regard as an extravaganza at odds with Malawi's status as one of the poorest countries in the world.
"(The president) is getting a lot of sympathy and he is using this to garner more support, especially in the regions where he is not as popular," said a senior member of the United Democratic Front (UDF), which wa Mutharika abandoned after he won the presidency on its ticket in 2004.
Another senior UDF member told Reuters the president's new popularity makes it difficult for the party to oppose him.
"It is working for him that's why as UDF, I don't think we will go ahead to boycott the 2007/08 national budget," the UDF official said.
Both UDF members asked for anonymity.
Some political analysts think wa Mutharika, who has fought incessant battles as the leader of a precarious minority government, is treading on dangerous ground both politically and economically.
"This is an occasion that cannot be dismissed, it is the first time such a thing has happened in Malawi and therefore no precedent set," Rafiq Hajat, executive director of the local Institute for Policy Interaction, told Reuters.
"But the president has to be mindful of the political ramifications of moving the remains of the First Lady around."
CAMPAIGNING FROM THE GRAVE
A South African jet has been hired to fly Ethel Mutharika's body around the country so it can be put on view for mourners in the country's three major cities.
Special commemorative cloth, similar to that used in many African political campaigns but this time bearing Mutharika's portrait, has been distributed for free.
Most government offices are closed, auctions for the country's main export earner, tobacco, have been postponed, and Malawi's state broadcasters have been working overtime to cover the various memorial services.
Workers are busy paving a new road to the president's rural farm, which will be the site of a new tomb for the first lady which planners say has been designed to last for 200 years.
The farm itself meanwhile is being refurbished for what officials expect will be an influx of dignitaries ahead of the formal burial on Saturday.
Few are willing to talk publicly about the government's funerary splurge. But sources in Treasury told Reuters the cost is running over at more than 2 billion kwacha (over US$10 million), which is under a government account being called State Funeral Expenses for the First Lady.
"We cannot disclose the exact cost of all this. This will be revealed at a later date," chairman of the funeral arrangements committee Davies Katsonga, who is also minister in the President's office, told a local daily this week.
OUT OF STEP WITH TRADITION
The government has already gone on record saying that contributions from well-wishers are being used to meet some of the expenses. Over 50 million kwacha has been realised it says.
But this clearly will not cover all the costs, which include the South African transport jet and a contract with Portugal's Mota-Engil construction firm to build the new mausoleum.
Malawi Economic Network for Economic Justice (MEJN), a local economic watchdog, said it was concerned about the cost of the memorial in a country where 65 percent of the people live below the world poverty line of $1 per day.
"We are all mourning the loss but at the end of the day, government has to let the nation know how much was spent on the funeral," MEJN Executive Director Mavuto Bamusi told Reuters.
A well-known government critic, Tom Likambale, said the parade of memorials was at odds with both Malawi's economic situation and its cultural traditions, which demand dignity and respect for the dead.
"Culturally in Malawi, people travel to pay their respects. A dead body does not travel so that it can receive respects," Likambale said.
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Ethel Mutharika, 63, died last week after a long struggle with cancer and the government quickly declared a month of official mourning for a woman well known for her charity work with orphans.
Since then, however, the government's memorial plans have grown into what many regard as an extravaganza at odds with Malawi's status as one of the poorest countries in the world.
"(The president) is getting a lot of sympathy and he is using this to garner more support, especially in the regions where he is not as popular," said a senior member of the United Democratic Front (UDF), which wa Mutharika abandoned after he won the presidency on its ticket in 2004.
Another senior UDF member told Reuters the president's new popularity makes it difficult for the party to oppose him.
"It is working for him that's why as UDF, I don't think we will go ahead to boycott the 2007/08 national budget," the UDF official said.
Both UDF members asked for anonymity.
Some political analysts think wa Mutharika, who has fought incessant battles as the leader of a precarious minority government, is treading on dangerous ground both politically and economically.
"This is an occasion that cannot be dismissed, it is the first time such a thing has happened in Malawi and therefore no precedent set," Rafiq Hajat, executive director of the local Institute for Policy Interaction, told Reuters.
"But the president has to be mindful of the political ramifications of moving the remains of the First Lady around."
CAMPAIGNING FROM THE GRAVE
A South African jet has been hired to fly Ethel Mutharika's body around the country so it can be put on view for mourners in the country's three major cities.
Special commemorative cloth, similar to that used in many African political campaigns but this time bearing Mutharika's portrait, has been distributed for free.
Most government offices are closed, auctions for the country's main export earner, tobacco, have been postponed, and Malawi's state broadcasters have been working overtime to cover the various memorial services.
Workers are busy paving a new road to the president's rural farm, which will be the site of a new tomb for the first lady which planners say has been designed to last for 200 years.
The farm itself meanwhile is being refurbished for what officials expect will be an influx of dignitaries ahead of the formal burial on Saturday.
Few are willing to talk publicly about the government's funerary splurge. But sources in Treasury told Reuters the cost is running over at more than 2 billion kwacha (over US$10 million), which is under a government account being called State Funeral Expenses for the First Lady.
"We cannot disclose the exact cost of all this. This will be revealed at a later date," chairman of the funeral arrangements committee Davies Katsonga, who is also minister in the President's office, told a local daily this week.
OUT OF STEP WITH TRADITION
The government has already gone on record saying that contributions from well-wishers are being used to meet some of the expenses. Over 50 million kwacha has been realised it says.
But this clearly will not cover all the costs, which include the South African transport jet and a contract with Portugal's Mota-Engil construction firm to build the new mausoleum.
Malawi Economic Network for Economic Justice (MEJN), a local economic watchdog, said it was concerned about the cost of the memorial in a country where 65 percent of the people live below the world poverty line of $1 per day.
"We are all mourning the loss but at the end of the day, government has to let the nation know how much was spent on the funeral," MEJN Executive Director Mavuto Bamusi told Reuters.
A well-known government critic, Tom Likambale, said the parade of memorials was at odds with both Malawi's economic situation and its cultural traditions, which demand dignity and respect for the dead.
"Culturally in Malawi, people travel to pay their respects. A dead body does not travel so that it can receive respects," Likambale said.
Thursday, 7 June 2007
Mugabe to attend Mama Mutharika's burial
Mama Mutharika will be buried on Saturday at Ndata Farm in Thyolo, about 30km from the Malawian commercial capital, Blantyre, where her husband, President Bingu wa Mutharika, comes from.
Ethel, like Mugabe, was born in Zimbabwe of Malawian parents. Her father came from Zomba, Malawi, but was in Zimbabwe as an immigrant worker.
Mugabe's father, Masuzyo Matibili, was also an immigrant worker from Malawi but because the white Native Commissioner who registered him in Mutoko when he entered Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) could not pronounce his name properly, let alone spell it, he renamed him Gabriel. He married Bona and had several children, among them, Robert.
Young Robert and some of his siblings adopted the name Mugabe, belonging to one of the helpers of the Jesuits who were setting up Kutama Mission, because their father, Masuzyo Matibili, had dumped Bona for another woman in Bulawayo.
Bingu wa Mutharika has close links with the Zimbabwean strongman, from his days in exile from the Malawian dictator, Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
Ten years Mugabe's junior, Bingu was born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom. He reverted to the family name, Mutharika, and adopted the first name, Bingu, during the 1960s when pan-Africanism was sweeping across the continent.
He mingled with Mugabe as Common Market for East and Southern Africa's secretary-general and was editor of the now defunct Southern Africa Economist magazine in Harare. He also owns a farm in Chegutu.
Last year, he named a popular highway — Midima Road — linking Limbe with his home area, Thyolo, after the Zimbabwean despot, sparking protests from Malawians who felt Mugabe did not deserve such an honour given his iron-fist rule of the southern African nation. Enraged Malawians defaced the plaque put up in Mugabe's honour during the protests.
Once one of the world's most respected statesmen because of his ability to unite warring parties in 1980, Mugabe has sunk to a ruthless dictator who is trampling on southern African nation's citizens' rights with reckless abandon.
Having embarked on a one-party state system at independence from Britain in 1980, Mugabe grudgingly adopted pluralism after challenges from some of his closest lieutenants.
First, his cousin, the late James Chikerema, teamed up with the first black chief justice in independent Zimbabwe, Enoch Dumbutshena, to form the Forum Party for Democracy, throwing Mugabe's one-party plan into disarray. The new party won a seat.
Second, former ZANU PF secretary-general, Edgar "Two Boy" Tekere, formed Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM) and contested the 1990 plebiscite, shocking Mugabe by winning 20 percent of the vote. That saw the new party having two representatives in the House of Assembly.
Then came the former Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general, Morgan Tsvangirai. His Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) contested elections in 2000. It won 58 seats of the contested 120, the closest an opposition party came to toppling the Zimbabwean strongman.
Mugabe, stunned by the result, unleashed the veterans of the independence war on hapless white commercial farmers who had openly supported the new party.
David Stevens, a Marondera farmer, was murdered in cold blood, triggering an orgy of violent farm seizures countrywide. Nearly 5 000 white farmers fled to neighbouring countries and Europe where they have contributed immensely to those countries' agricultural output.
The new farmers, most with no farming experience and without the necessary resources, soon started looting and vandalising agricultural equipment on those farms, leaving them derelict.
Once Africa's breadbasket, Zimbabwe is now a basket case and this year, the country has a one million tonne grain deficit.
Bingu is battering Malawi's maize with sugar from Zimbabwe. Only 200 000 tonnes of maize will be realised from the deal, leaving Zimbabwe with an 800 000 tonne deficit which will have to be met by expensive imports from faraway countries such as United States and Brazil.
Ethel, like Mugabe, was born in Zimbabwe of Malawian parents. Her father came from Zomba, Malawi, but was in Zimbabwe as an immigrant worker.
Mugabe's father, Masuzyo Matibili, was also an immigrant worker from Malawi but because the white Native Commissioner who registered him in Mutoko when he entered Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) could not pronounce his name properly, let alone spell it, he renamed him Gabriel. He married Bona and had several children, among them, Robert.
Young Robert and some of his siblings adopted the name Mugabe, belonging to one of the helpers of the Jesuits who were setting up Kutama Mission, because their father, Masuzyo Matibili, had dumped Bona for another woman in Bulawayo.
Bingu wa Mutharika has close links with the Zimbabwean strongman, from his days in exile from the Malawian dictator, Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
Ten years Mugabe's junior, Bingu was born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom. He reverted to the family name, Mutharika, and adopted the first name, Bingu, during the 1960s when pan-Africanism was sweeping across the continent.
He mingled with Mugabe as Common Market for East and Southern Africa's secretary-general and was editor of the now defunct Southern Africa Economist magazine in Harare. He also owns a farm in Chegutu.
Last year, he named a popular highway — Midima Road — linking Limbe with his home area, Thyolo, after the Zimbabwean despot, sparking protests from Malawians who felt Mugabe did not deserve such an honour given his iron-fist rule of the southern African nation. Enraged Malawians defaced the plaque put up in Mugabe's honour during the protests.
Once one of the world's most respected statesmen because of his ability to unite warring parties in 1980, Mugabe has sunk to a ruthless dictator who is trampling on southern African nation's citizens' rights with reckless abandon.
Having embarked on a one-party state system at independence from Britain in 1980, Mugabe grudgingly adopted pluralism after challenges from some of his closest lieutenants.
First, his cousin, the late James Chikerema, teamed up with the first black chief justice in independent Zimbabwe, Enoch Dumbutshena, to form the Forum Party for Democracy, throwing Mugabe's one-party plan into disarray. The new party won a seat.
Second, former ZANU PF secretary-general, Edgar "Two Boy" Tekere, formed Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM) and contested the 1990 plebiscite, shocking Mugabe by winning 20 percent of the vote. That saw the new party having two representatives in the House of Assembly.
Then came the former Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general, Morgan Tsvangirai. His Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) contested elections in 2000. It won 58 seats of the contested 120, the closest an opposition party came to toppling the Zimbabwean strongman.
Mugabe, stunned by the result, unleashed the veterans of the independence war on hapless white commercial farmers who had openly supported the new party.
David Stevens, a Marondera farmer, was murdered in cold blood, triggering an orgy of violent farm seizures countrywide. Nearly 5 000 white farmers fled to neighbouring countries and Europe where they have contributed immensely to those countries' agricultural output.
The new farmers, most with no farming experience and without the necessary resources, soon started looting and vandalising agricultural equipment on those farms, leaving them derelict.
Once Africa's breadbasket, Zimbabwe is now a basket case and this year, the country has a one million tonne grain deficit.
Bingu is battering Malawi's maize with sugar from Zimbabwe. Only 200 000 tonnes of maize will be realised from the deal, leaving Zimbabwe with an 800 000 tonne deficit which will have to be met by expensive imports from faraway countries such as United States and Brazil.
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Former Premier to attend Malawi's First Lady's funeral
President Chen Shui-bian named former Premier Su Tseng-chang on Tuesday as his envoy to attend the funeral of Malawi's first lady. The wife of Malawian President Mutharika passed away on May 28.
Su will head a delegation to the southeast African country Thursday. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday.
This will be Su's second visit to Malawi, one of Taiwan's five diplomatic allies in Africa. His first visit was in July 2002 when he accompanied President Chen on a tour to Senegal, Sao Tome and Principe, Swaziland and Malawi.
Su will head a delegation to the southeast African country Thursday. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday.
This will be Su's second visit to Malawi, one of Taiwan's five diplomatic allies in Africa. His first visit was in July 2002 when he accompanied President Chen on a tour to Senegal, Sao Tome and Principe, Swaziland and Malawi.
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
New Bishop Pledges to Implement Local Synod Proposals
The new Bishop of Mangochi Diocese, Alessandro Pagani, says his main task is to implement proposals of the diocesan mini-synod which the late Bishop Alessandro Assolari instituted in 2003.
The implementation of the proposals was marred by the death of Bishop Luciano Nervi on March 8, 2005, only 38 days after succeeding Assolari. The implementation was dependent on approval of the suggestions on inculturation of the liturgy by the national bishops' conference.
The new bishop said he would work closely with the local clergy without considering himself the boss. "For me to implement the mini-synod and other projects I need to work with the clergy," Bishop Pagani said after he was enthroned on Saturday at St. John the Baptist Major Seminary.
Pagani, who has worked with the Legion of Mary since 1967, also said he would offer assistance to the association whenever the need arose. During the liturgy, the national coordinator for the legion Jervis Chakumodzi commended the bishop for the spiritual support Pagani has offered to the legion.
President Bingu wa Mutharika was among dignitaries at the ordination. He wished the new bishop well and prayed that peaceful co-existence continues between Muslims and Christians in the Muslim-majority district of Mangochi.
Bishop Pagani was born on January 13, 1937, in Bergamo, Italy. He was ordained a Montfort missionary priest on March 13, 1965. He served in Malawi from 1969 to 1986 before moving to Zambia, 1986 to 1997. He returned to Malawi to serve as regional superior for Montfort Missionaries of Zambia and Malawi. The Pope appointed him bishop on April 3.
Alessandro Assolari served as the first bishop for the Mangochi from 1973 to 2005. Bishop Luciano Nervi succeeded Assolari in 2005. It is expected that Pagani will serve as bishop for five years before he reaches his mandatory retirement age of 75.
The implementation of the proposals was marred by the death of Bishop Luciano Nervi on March 8, 2005, only 38 days after succeeding Assolari. The implementation was dependent on approval of the suggestions on inculturation of the liturgy by the national bishops' conference.
The new bishop said he would work closely with the local clergy without considering himself the boss. "For me to implement the mini-synod and other projects I need to work with the clergy," Bishop Pagani said after he was enthroned on Saturday at St. John the Baptist Major Seminary.
Pagani, who has worked with the Legion of Mary since 1967, also said he would offer assistance to the association whenever the need arose. During the liturgy, the national coordinator for the legion Jervis Chakumodzi commended the bishop for the spiritual support Pagani has offered to the legion.
President Bingu wa Mutharika was among dignitaries at the ordination. He wished the new bishop well and prayed that peaceful co-existence continues between Muslims and Christians in the Muslim-majority district of Mangochi.
Bishop Pagani was born on January 13, 1937, in Bergamo, Italy. He was ordained a Montfort missionary priest on March 13, 1965. He served in Malawi from 1969 to 1986 before moving to Zambia, 1986 to 1997. He returned to Malawi to serve as regional superior for Montfort Missionaries of Zambia and Malawi. The Pope appointed him bishop on April 3.
Alessandro Assolari served as the first bishop for the Mangochi from 1973 to 2005. Bishop Luciano Nervi succeeded Assolari in 2005. It is expected that Pagani will serve as bishop for five years before he reaches his mandatory retirement age of 75.
Monday, 28 May 2007
Malawi's first lady dies
BLANTYRE, Malawi: Ethel Mutharika, wife of Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika, died Monday after battling an unspecified illness, the presidency said.
A brief statement released by the chief secretary of the president, Bright Msaka, confirmed that Ethel Mutharika had died in the capital, Lilongwe.
"The president is deeply saddened by the death of his longtime wife who has been beside him since they met in the early '60s. The State House is shocked by the death of our mother whose guidance we deeply relied upon," the statement said.
The statement did not give the cause of death or her age, but the reserved woman who seldom made public appearances was said to be in her 60s and suffering from an unspecified cancer.
Government officials would not reveal the nature of the first lady's illness earlier this year but said she had traveled to France and South Africa for specialist medical treatment and had undergone a minor surgical operation.
Funeral details were still to be announced, but the Ministry of Information said a month of mourning would be observed during which flags at government buildings would be flown at half staff.
The speaker of parliament, Louis Chimango, interrupted the house's budget session to announce the news.
"On behalf of parliament, I express my deep condolences to the president and the first family in this trying moment," he said.
Zimbabwean-born Ethel Mutharika was the head of a foundation that bore her name and helped poor women in income-generating activities.
She is survived by her husband and four children.
A brief statement released by the chief secretary of the president, Bright Msaka, confirmed that Ethel Mutharika had died in the capital, Lilongwe.
"The president is deeply saddened by the death of his longtime wife who has been beside him since they met in the early '60s. The State House is shocked by the death of our mother whose guidance we deeply relied upon," the statement said.
The statement did not give the cause of death or her age, but the reserved woman who seldom made public appearances was said to be in her 60s and suffering from an unspecified cancer.
Government officials would not reveal the nature of the first lady's illness earlier this year but said she had traveled to France and South Africa for specialist medical treatment and had undergone a minor surgical operation.
Funeral details were still to be announced, but the Ministry of Information said a month of mourning would be observed during which flags at government buildings would be flown at half staff.
The speaker of parliament, Louis Chimango, interrupted the house's budget session to announce the news.
"On behalf of parliament, I express my deep condolences to the president and the first family in this trying moment," he said.
Zimbabwean-born Ethel Mutharika was the head of a foundation that bore her name and helped poor women in income-generating activities.
She is survived by her husband and four children.
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