Sanday Chongo Kabange in Hong Kong
Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika has died after a heart attack, close to 24 hours after being rushed to that country's public medical centre. Social networking sites went ablaze as soon as it was reported that the 78-year-old leader had been rushed to Kamuzu Hospital in Lilongwe after collapsing at his home around mid morning on Thursday.
Reuters news agency reported that medical and government officials said on Friday, although few of his countrymen mourned a leader widely seen as an autocrat responsible for a stunning economic collapse.
State media said he had been flown to South Africa for treatment although his immediate whereabouts remained unclear.
Reports suggest the 78-year-old leader died after medical personnel failed to resuscitate him.
Medical sources said the former World Bank economist had been flown out because a power and energy crisis in the nation of 13 million was so severe the Lilongwe state hospital would have been unable to carry out a proper autopsy or even keep his body refrigerated, Reuters reported.
Many Malawians blamed Mutharika personally for the economic woes, which stemmed 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.
There was no official announcement. State media said a statement would be made later on Friday.
As rumors of the death of the self-styled 'Economist in Chief' swept the capital on Thursday night, there were even pockets of drunken jubilation among locals who saw him turning back the clock on 18 years of democracy in the 'Warm Heart of Africa'.
"I am yet to see anyone shedding a tear for Bingu," said Martin Mlenga, another businessman. "We all wished him dead, sorry to say that."
The constitution says vice-president Joyce Banda will take over as head of state.
Analysts said there would be a smooth transition even though Banda was booted out of Mutharika's ruling DPP party in 2010 after an argument about succession.
Mutharika appeared to have been grooming his foreign minister brother Peter as his successor, although there was little question of the army and police not respecting the law, said former Attorney General Ralph Kasambara.
"The army has been very professional," Kasambara, now a human rights activist, said. "He was very unpopular. People were praying for his death. We can't get any worse than we are."
The next election is due in 2014.
Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika has died after a heart attack, close to 24 hours after being rushed to that country's public medical centre. Social networking sites went ablaze as soon as it was reported that the 78-year-old leader had been rushed to Kamuzu Hospital in Lilongwe after collapsing at his home around mid morning on Thursday.
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