Malawi's first lady passes away

http://www.nyasatimes.com/Breaking-News/840.html

The demise on Monday, May 28, of Malawi’s First Lady Madame Ethel Mutharika has indisputably robbed the country of its dearly loved mother who dedicated her last years to changing the ills of the vulnerable citizens.

Testimonies have flooded the airwaves, print and on-line newspapers, internet discussion forums (Nyasanet, Malawi Talk and Malawiana), among others, just to demonstrate how seriously Malawi will miss her mother in deeds, particularly through her Ethel Mutharika Foundation.

“Those of us, now in the diaspora, who have intimately worked with her in various developmental projects know exactly the caliber of a person Mrs. Ethel Mutharika was,” wrote one family from United States of America (USA) contributed via Malawi Talk.

Adds the contributor: “The country has lost a mother who passionately devoted her life to significantly add value to the lives of deprived souls in Malawi at a difficult era of political turbulence.”

However, one thing for sure, the death of Mrs. Mutharika has united the politically fragmented Malawi; for once, unity and tranquility has prevailed.

Former State President and National Chairman of the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), Dr Bakili Muluzi, has announced his return from United Kingdom where he is holidaying to be with President Mutharika during these trying times.

Dr Muluzi, viewed as Mutharika’s number one political foe, has set aside his differences with the incumbent Head of State even though the President failed to even cheer him after he came back from UK where he underwent surgery last year.

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President John Tembo and New Republican Party (NRP) President Gwanda Chakuamba telephoned Muluzi and made visitations.

But immediately after the First Lady’s death, Muluzi was reportedly the first to send a message of condolence to Mutharika and the people of Malawi.

Presidents of almost all opposition political parties namely; Tembo of MCP, who is also leader of the opposition in Parliament, Chakuamba of NRP, Aleke Banda of the Peoples Progressive Movement (PPM) and Mutharika’s out-of-favour former minister Uladi Mussa, leader of the newly registered Malavi Peoples Party (MPP) were among the first to comfort Mutharika at the New State House.

“This is a stepping stone towards a permanent cohesion for the good of our national development… It must not be a temporal cease fire,” observes Rafiq Hajat, a governance and policy analyst, who is also Executive Director of think-tank Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI).

Chakuamba, has meanwhile, cancelled all its political rallies scheduled for this month in order to mourn Mrs. Mutharika.

It is the wish of every Malawian that Mrs. Mutharika’s death will once and for all cement the mutuality and tranquility that has engulfed the nation.

“The onus is on the politicians themselves to ensure that this harmony is maintained at all cost. We can have conflict and resolution experts from anywhere but this is the best,” Hajat added.

Malawi is observing the fourth day of national mourning and the last day of body viewing for people living in the capital, Lilongwe and surrounding areas. There are still long queues of people wanting to pay their last respects.

The casket will be closed at exactly 17.00hours.

Tomorrow morning, the body will be taken to Lingadzi CCAP for a church service before being flown to Mzuzu State Lodge in Northern Malawi for viewing again from June 2 to 4.

On June 5, it will be taken to Sanjika Palace in Blantyre for the last three days of public viewing.

Another church service will be held at St Michaels and All Angels Church of the CCAP before proceeding to the President’s Ndata Farm in Thyolo where she will be laid to rest on June 9.

As mourning of the First Lady continues, people wonder and whisper; “why can’t this peace, unity and tranquility continue?”