RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: "We all wished him dead:" Malawi's president dies, mourned by few Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:46 pm | |
| Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika has died after a heart attack, medical and government sources said on Friday (local time), although few of his countrymen mourned a leader widely seen as an autocrat responsible for a stunning economic collapse.
The 78-year-old was rushed to hospital in Lilongwe on Thursday after collapsing but was dead on arrival, the sources said. State media said he had been flown to South Africa for treatment although his immediate whereabouts remained unclear.
Medical sources said the ex-World Bank economist had been flown out because an energy crisis in the nation of 13 million was so severe the Lilongwe state hospital would have been unable to conduct a proper autopsy or even keep his body refrigerated.
Many Malawians blame Mutharika personally for the economic woes, which stem ultimately from a diplomatic spat with former colonial power Britain a year ago.
"We know he is dead and unfortunately he died at a local, poor hospital which he never cared about - no drugs, no power," said Chimwemwe Phiri, a Lilongwe businessman waiting in a snaking line of cars for fuel at a petrol station.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/6707934/Malawis-president-dies-mourned-by-few |
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