Bingu wa Mutharika

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Bingu wa Mutharika
<small/>
3rd President of Malawi
Incumbent
Assumed office May 24, 2004
Preceded by	Bakili Muluzi
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	February 24, 1934 Thyolo, Nyasaland, present-day Malawi
Political party	South-West Africa People's Organisation, United Democratic Front (UDF), United Party (UP), Democratic People's Party (DPP)
Spouse	Ethel Mutharika

Bingu wa Mutharika (born February 24, 1934) is a Malawi economist, politician, and the current President of Malawi. He took office on May 24, 2004, after winning a disputed presidential election.

Born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom in Thyolo, about 30km from Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre, he reverted to the family name of Mutharika and adopted the first name of Bingu during the 1960s when pan-Africanism was sweeping across the continent.

He later added the prefix 'wa' between his names to disguise his identity from Hastings Banda's state security, who were hunting down his opponents around the world.

Mutharika was the son of a primary school headmaster. He was educated at the University of Delhi, India, where he gained a master's degree in economics. He later obtained a PhD in development economics from Pacific Western University, in Los Angeles, California.

After serving in the Malawi civil service and also for a period in the government of Zambia, Mutharika joined the United Nations in 1978, where he eventually became Director for Trade and Development Finance for Africa. In 1991 he was appointed secretary-general of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), a regional body of 20 countries.

One reason for Mutharika's decision to join the UN was his opposition to the regime of Malawi's self-declared "President for Life," Hastings Kamuzu Banda. After Banda was forced to liberalise his regime, Mutharika was one of the founders of the United Democratic Front, the party that won Malawi's first multiparty elections in 1994.

Mutharika was at that time a supporter of the UDF leader, President Bakili Muluzi, but he soon became a critic of Muluzi's economic policies and left the UDF. He formed the United Party (UP) in 1997 and unsuccessfully opposed Muluzi in the 1999 presidential elections, taking less than 1% of the vote.<ref name="Elections">Elections in Malawi, African Elections Database.</ref>

Mutharika dissolved the UP and rejoined the UDF after being offered the deputy governorship at Reserve Bank of Malawi. He was appointed Minister of Economic Planning and Development in 2002, and was then nominated by Muluzi as his successor. Mutharika won about 36% of the vote in the presidential election of May 20, 2004, ahead of John Tembo and Gwanda Chakuamba, and took office a few days later.<ref name="Elections"/>

After taking office, Mutharika came into conflict with Muluzi, head of the UDF, over Mutharika's campaign against corruption. The dispute between them has characterized Mutharika's time in office thus far, and it has been claimed that political conflict is interfering with the country's governance.<ref name="Governance">"Political squabbles hamper goverance, says conflict report", IRIN, May 26, 2006.</ref> On February 5, 2005, Mutharika announced his resignation from the UDF, saying that he had no support in the party because of his stand against corruption.<ref>"Mutharika resigns from party, reshuffles cabinet", IRIN, February 7, 2005.</ref> There had previously been talk of expelling him from the party,<ref>"Political infighting could destabilise govt", IRIN, January 31, 2005.</ref> and there had also been an alleged assassination plot against him by party members in early January 2005. Those accused were later pardoned by Mutharika, but he maintained the existence of the plot.<ref>"Mutharika frees party leaders involved in "assassination" plot", IRIN, January 7, 2005.</ref> Mutharika subsequently formed his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).<ref name="Governance"/>

Gwanda Chakuamba, who had been made minister of agriculture, was dismissed from the cabinet and subsequently arrested in September 2005 for making a speech predicting that Mutharika would be out of office by Christmas.<ref>"Sacked Malawi minister detained", BBC.co.uk, September 14, 2005.</ref> In 2006, the vice-president, Cassim Chilumpha, was arrested; he was accused of plotting Mutharika's assassination.<ref>"Concern over threat of renewed political instability", IRIN, May 2, 2006.</ref>

It was reported in March 2005 that he was not sleeping in the state mansion because of suspicions that it is home to evil spirits. A presidential aide was quoted as saying that Christian clergy had been asked to exorcise the spirits. This was subsequently denied, and journalists responsible for the story, including a BBC reporter, were arrested. Mutharika said that "I have not met any ghosts yet, I have never in my life been afraid of them".<ref>"Malawi 'haunted palace' arrests", BBC.co.uk, March 17, 2005.</ref>

Mutharika has upheld the memory of Hastings Banda as a national hero; in May 2006, he was present at the unveiling of a mausoleum for Banda that cost US$620,000.<ref>"Mutharika pays Banda a US$620,000 tribute", IRIN, May 17, 2006.</ref>

His brother, Peter Mutharika, holds a doctorate from Yale and is a prominent law professor at Washington University in St. Louis.