Former Malawian minister of foreign affairs Peter Mutharika, who was on Friday declared the winner of Malawi’s disputed election, was sworn in yesterday as president of the impoverished southern African country under the shadow of a treason charge.
The 74-year-old brother of former Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika is accused of attempting to conceal his brother’s death in office two years ago in an attempt to prevent then-Malawian vice president Joyce Banda from assuming power.
Banda prevailed and took office as decreed by the constitution, booting the former minister out of the administration, but Mutharika beat her soundly in the election on May 20.
The leader of the Malawian Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Mutharika and other senior officials face additional counts of inciting a mutiny and conspiracy to commit a felony.
The trial is still pending, but analysts say it is likely the case will be set aside because Malawi’s presidents enjoy immunity from prosecution as long as they are in office.
There is speculation that once Mutharika is in power he is to turn the tables on Banda and have her charged with corruption over a US$30 million graft scandal dubbed “Cashgate.”
Banda has claimed the credit for uncovering the fraud, which saw aid money siphoned into top Malawian government officials’ pockets. However, critics, including Mutharika, say the funds went into her party’s election war chest.
“Banda did everything in her power to prevent Mutharika from becoming president ... and then bringing charges against her,” said Clive Gabay of the University of London’s Queen Mary College.
Mutharika, a law professor who spent most of his time abroad, entered Malawi politics in 2009 when he was elected to parliament and was appointed justice minister.
He later held other portfolios, including education and foreign affairs.
He has said he will not pursue trickle-down economics, but will implement “bottom-up economics aimed at getting the poor out of poverty into prosperity.”
The academic-turned-politician has a daunting task ahead of him in rebuilding the ailing economy and wooing foreign donors who imposed a partial aid freeze over Cashgate.
His leadership style in government, outside his older brother’s shadow, remains something of a mystery, analysts say.
“He is a man of few words — with him we don’t know what to expect,” Boniface Dulani of the University of Malawi said. “He did not really make much of an impact during his time in parliament. He hardly spoke.”
While Mutharika was minister of education in 2011, the University of Malawi faced a crisis, resulting in a lengthy closure, after three academics were fired over comments made in class.
One had suggested that an “Arab spring” could come to Malawi.
“During that critical period which compromised academic freedom, Mutharika failed to show leadership,” Dulani said.
Mutharika was later moved to foreign affairs.
With law degrees from the University of London and Yale, Mutharika left Malawi in the 1960s to settle in the US.
He returned to the country in 1993 to help draft the country’s first democratic constitution after the fall of former Malawian president Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s government.
He went back to the US, but returned home in 2004 when his brother came to power.
A widower for 30 years, Mutharika has three children who all live in the US.
His election makes him Malawi’s fifth president since independence from Britain in 1964.
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