There was jubilation and ululation on the streets of Malawi’s capital Lilongwe when news broke out that President Bingu wa Mutharika had died following a heart attack in his office. This was in April 2012, three years into his second term of office. Many blamed him for turning his back on 18 years of democracy in a country fondly described as the ‘Warm Heart of Africa’. Mutharika had come to power in 2004 and presided over a seven-year economic boom – underpinned by a successful fertilizer subsidy programme and increased foreign aid – that had given Malawi one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
The boom ended in 2011 after Mutharika squabbled with Britain – the former colonial power (independence came in 1964) and the country’s biggest aid donor. This led to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions and the freezing of aid; which, aside from agriculture exports, is the country’s key driver. The cause of the row was a leaked diplomatic assessment that labelled Mutharika ‘autocratic and intolerant of criticism’. What followed was an acute dollar crunch that hampered imports of fuel and medicines.
