Clik here to view.
President of Malawi who went from reformer to despot
Going from one of the most respected African leaders to a repressive despot in just two years, the president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, who has died aged 78, had a transformative effect on his country.
The third and often forgotten member of the old Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Malawi never secured the headlines like the other two, Zimbabwe and Zambia, but was assiduously cultivated by South Africa during the apartheid years. Under its founding president, Hastings Banda, Malawi became conservative internally with controversial diplomatic links – a police state under which civil liberties were heavily curtailed. Yet as one of the poorest countries in Africa, with the majority of its population living below the poverty line, it embraced the region's "political spring" that began in 1991 with the downfall of Kenneth Kaunda in elections in neighbouring Zambia.
In 1994 Bakili Muluzi defeated Banda in Malawi's own elections and set about liberalising the country. He won re-election in 1999 but failed in his attempt to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third term. He then handpicked Mutharika to be his successor as leader of the United Democratic Front party. Mutharika was a technocratic choice with an extensive educational and career background. He took a master's degree in economics in Delhi and subsequently obtained a doctorate from the non-accredited Pacific Western University in California. He was a loans officer at the World Bank, then rose to a directorship within the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and became secretary-general of the 22-nation Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. He was minister of economic planning and development at the end of Muluzi's second term.
Mutharika became president of Malawi in 2004, but the United Democratic Front, with its powerful and ambitious barons, never took kindly to his elevation by Muluzi. Quarrels broke out, and Mutharika took an unusual step for a national president, leaving his own party to start another. He founded the Democratic Progressive party, with Muluzi apologising for imposing him on the country.
The first years of Mutharika's presidency were, however, stunningly successful. A strong emphasis on agriculture, food security and seed availability led to successive years of food surpluses and it seemed that the agricultural sector was being transformed. He founded several universities of agriculture.
In foreign policy, he also moved to overhaul previous relationships. He rescinded Malawi's recognition of Taiwan and in 2007 established diplomatic links with Beijing. In return, China made available an immediate $260m (£165m) loan and kickstarted a trading relationship whereby China-Malawi trade rose to $100m – 45% of Malawi's overall trade. China spent $41m on Malawi's new parliament building and is currently constructing a $90m hotel.
On the basis of his performance, and in his propagation of greater civil liberties, Mutharika won what were hailed as free and fair elections in 2009.
He seemed determined to put Malawi on the international map in his second term. In 2010 Malawi donated 150 tonnes of rice to Haiti following the earthquake there. For a country so identified with food shortages, it was a small but potent gesture. In 2010 Mutharika also became chairman of the African Union and attended G8 and G20 meetings – even though Malawi was a member of neither – to foster the image of a technocratic and democratic African leader. He persuaded the African Union to adopt his "African food basket" vision, and later condemned Laurent Gbagbo's attempt to cling to power in Ivory Coast. However, Mutharika was also at the forefront of African leaders who condemned the international criminal court for indicting President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, claiming such actions impinged on Africa's self-governance.
After 2010, however, Mutharika's behaviour and reputation began to change dramatically. Like his predecessor, he began contemplating the constitutional changes that would allow him to run for a third term. As the international recession took hold, and the knock-on effects were felt in Malawi, fuel shortages and increased urban unemployment led to street protests. The president's response was violent and civil liberties once again seemed insecure. He became increasingly volatile in his public statements, claiming peace and liberty amid clearly visible steps towards repression. In 2011, protesters were shot dead by police in the northern cities of Karonga and Mzuzu.
His first wife, Ethel Zvauya, died in 2007. He is survived by their four children and by his second wife, Callista Chapola-Chimombo.
• Bingu wa Mutharika, president of Malawi, born 24 February 1934; died 5 April 2012