Bingu wa Mutharika

Bingu wa Mutharika ( moot-ə-REE-kə; born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom; 24 February 1934 – 5 April 2012) was a Malawian politician and economist who served as the third president of Malawi from 2004 until his death in 2012 and brother of Malawian President Peter Mutharika. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he served as the party's president from 2005 to 2012, and was also the eighth chairperson of the African Union from 2010 to 2011.

Born in Thyolo District, Mutharika was educated in India and the United States in the 1960s, graduating from the University of Delhi with a master of Arts degree in economics. Mutherika later joined the civil service where he served as an administrative officer in the Governments of Malawi and Zambia, and also worked at the World Bank as a Loans Officer and at the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa, as Director of Trade and Development Finance and as Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). In 2004, President Bakili Muluzi nominated Mutherika for the presidency as the candidate for the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the 2004 presidential election, where Mutherika subsequently won and was elected president, defeating John Tembo of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).

During Mutharika's first term, Malawi's economy experienced steady growth, inflation fell, and the poverty rate declined. In 2005, Mutharika left the UDF following a dispute and founded the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). A fertiliser subsidy program was also introduced that significantly boosted maize production and improved food security. Democratic governance also increased during this time. All of this won Mutharika public support, especially in the rural areas, and by 2009, he became one of Africa's most popular presidents. In 2009, Mutharika was re-elected president, defeating John Tembo again.