Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika has
died after a heart attack, medical and
government sources said on Friday.
The 78-year-old was rushed to a Lilongwe
hospital on Thursday after collapsing but
was dead on arrival, the sources said.
The constitution makes clear that Vice-
President Joyce Banda is first in line to take
over as head of state in the impoverished
southern African nation, although Banda's
expulsion from the ruling party in 2010 may
complicate the transition, reports Reuters.
Mutharika, a former World Bank economist
who had been accused of despotism and
mishandling the economy in his final
months, appeared to have been grooming
his Foreign Minister brother Peter as his
successor.
Peter Mutharika had tended to deputise in
his brother's absence.
Police deployed in force across the capital
on Thursday after Mutharika's admission to
hospital, while 15 army officers took up
position around Banda's residence,
witnesses said.
Before his death, Mutharika's condition
drew little sympathy on the streets of
Blantyre, the commercial capital, where
many people viewed him as an autocrat
responsible for chronic shortages of fuel,
food and foreign exchange.
"Perhaps the end of our suffering is also
nigh," said Benson Msiska, a taxi driver stuck
in a long queue for petrol in the southern
city.
Pastor T B joshua had last month predicted the death of an African notable leader..perharps it has come to past.
RIP
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