Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE, REUTERS) Malawi president suffers cardiac arrest

COMMENT - Malawi has been under assault, since they committed treason against the New World Order and extended a loan to the government of Zimbabwe, the country that is 'not under sanctions'. (Read: (NYASATIMES) EU petitioned to suspend aid to Malawi over bankrolling Mugabe). Also, he committed the fatal act of proving that government help to economic sectors like agriculture is massively successful, and adhering to 'free market' theory causes massive death and poverty. (Read: How Malawi went from a nation of famine to a nation of feast) The writer in the article does not mention the suspension of much of the Malawi government's budget as the cause of any of the state's financial woes. This is what happens to every (African) ruler who decides to develop his country and economy by using common sense - demonisation and villification. And it must stop. UPDATE: According to the BBC and The Post, President Bingu wa Mutharika has died. (THE POST, BBC) Bingu wa Mutharika is dead, doctors say, as government insists he is alive in hospital. UPDATE 2.1: (NYASATIMES) Malawi's Joyce Banda Takes Presidential Oath.


Malawi president suffers cardiac arrest
05/04/2012 00:00:00
by AP/Reuters

MALAWI President Bingu wa Mutharika was rushed to hospital in the capital on Thursday after collapsing, medical sources said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to journalists, said 78-year-old wa Mutharika was taken to a Lilongwe hospital in a "very serious" condition. Government officials were not immediately available for comment.

Mutharika is a former World Bank official once heralded for his stewardship of a southern African country that is among the world’s poorest. In recent years, he has been accused of trampling on democratic rights.

[Translation: he extended a loan to the government of Zimbabwe, and has been 'out of favour' of the US and UK ever since. Zimbabwe is the country that has been under economic sanctions since Jan. 1st 2002 (ZDERA), two years after they redistributed the land to over 200,000 families (well over 1 million people) through the Fast Track land reform program, from 2000 onward.

On the subsequent economic squeeze that was put on the government of Malawi, read:
(NYASATIMES) EU petitioned to suspend aid to Malawi over bankrolling Mugabe
- MrK]

Mutharika first came to power in a 2004 election, and was overwhelmingly re-elected five years later. Elections are not due again in Malawi until 2014.

During his first term, Mutharika persisted with a programme to help farmers buy fertilizer even though Western donor nations and agencies said subsidies should be avoided in a free market. His subsidies were credited with boosting Malawi’s economy.
In more recent years, the economy has stumbled, with shortages of fuel and foreign currency and high unemployment.

[He proved the insanity of neoliberal economics and the ideology of 'free trade' wrong. Another reason he and Malawi had to be punished. - MrK]

Anti-government demonstrations across Malawi last year were met with an unprecedented security crackdown that resulted in at least 19 deaths.

Malawi’s relations with foreign donors have been strained by accusations Mutharika is authoritarian and responsible for human rights abuses. Last month, a U.S. aid agency that rewards good governance suspended $350 million worth of assistance to Malawi. Mutharika also has clashed with politicians at home, including his own vice president, Joyce Banda. She was expelled from Mutharika’s party and formed her own but remains vice president and under the constitution would become president if there was a sudden vacancy at the top.

Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, HEALTHCARE, JOYCE BANDA, MALAWI

posted by MrK @ 3:54 PM