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Malawi: President Bingu wa Mutharika hospitalized with heart problem
Malawi President., Bingu wa Mutharika. PHOTO/File
Malawi’s president was hospitalized Thursday with a heart problem, officials said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists, said 78-year-old President Bingu wa Mutharika was taken to a Lilongwe hospital Thursday morning.
Further details on his condition were not immediately available.
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.
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 program 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.
