In what was an indirect swipe at the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), President Lazarus Chakwera on Wednesday told Parliament that the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) did not desecrate the corpse of a President by taking it to hospital to lie to Malawians that he was alive.
In response to the opposition attacks that his State of the Nation Address (SONA) was full lie, Chakwera reminded DPP how they treated late president Bingu wa Mutharika’s body, by pretending that he was still alive when he was not.
“Ours is not the party that desecrated the corpse of a President by taking it to hospital to lie to Malawians that he was alive; ours is not the party that lied to Malawians that it will open the Nsanje inland port on its first day in Government in order to get votes from the Lower Shire; ours is not the party that planted dozens of foundation stones around the country to lie to Malawians that the planting of such stones means that they initiated the projects; ours is not the party that put one thin layer of tarmac on roads to lie to Malawians that this would turn Malawi into Singapore; ours is not the party that lied to Malawians that there was forex in the Central Bank when that forex was just a money laundering scheme covered up by submitting false records to the International Monetary Fund; and ours, Madam Speaker, is certainly not the party that lied to Malawians that it won an election credibly when all know that its path to the State House was paved with Tippex instead of votes,” he said
According to a Commission of Inquiry report, Mutharika’s body, beginning to decompose but still with a tube in his mouth, was even flown to South Africa under the pretense of being ill and needing medical treatment. His personal doctor “opted not to disconnect all the medical equipment to the late President’s body in order to give an impression that the President was still alive,”
The report said after collapsing, the former president died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.
But despite it being clear that Mutharika had died, medical attempts to “save his life” continued throughout the day, with false statements given to the press about the president’s condition.
An air ambulance that arrived from South Africa refused to depart with the Malawian president because the pilots didn’t have clearance to transport a dead body. After receiving approval, the pilots refused to take off because their flying hours for that day had expired. The South African high commissioner and Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Malawi were summoned to the airport to intervene.
An air ambulance that arrived from South Africa refused to depart with the Malawian president because the pilots didn’t have clearance to transport a dead body. After receiving approval, the pilots refused to take off because their flying hours for that day had expired. The South African high commissioner and Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Malawi were summoned to the airport to intervene.
Hours later the air ambulance landed at Waterkloof airforce base in Pretoria. Mutharika’s body was transported to the emergency ward of One Military Hospital, where it remained for about 15 minutes, before being taken to the morgue.
Back in Malawi, cabinet ministers were trying to get an injunction to stop the swearing in of Joyce Banda. Six ministers held a late-night news conference a day after Mutharika’s death to insist he was still alive.
According to the inquiry report, Peter Mutharika suggested to army commander Gen. Henry Odillo that the military “just take over.” Odillo refused, saying the constitution should be respected.
In the end, a fed-up South African government said that, “if the Government of Malawi was not going to announce the death of President Mutharika, then President Jacob Zuma of South Africa was going to do it.” Malawians were finally told of the death of their president nearly 48 hours after he had passed. Shortly after, Banda was sworn in as president.
Despite the disturbing revelations in the report, the arrest of the “coup plotters” has sent shock waves through Malawi, sparking accusations that Banda is cracking down on her opponents ahead of elections next year. While she has been feted by the international community for her relatively progressive stances on issues such as homosexuality and human rights, she is facing growing discontent at home over rising inflation and the devaluation of the Malawian currency.
