Yesterday morning, as I was checking my emails, facebook and online news, I came across a shocker, the news that President Bingu had died. After reading that particular article, I started looking around and could not completly figure out if his death was confirmed or just an internet rumor.
It took a full 24 hours for the Malawian authorities to come forward and announce that indeed, president Bingu had died, after suffering a massive heart attack.
This morning I came across the following article, an obituary fo "Mutharika, Malawi's flawed "economist-in-chief"." It is quite to the point and does raise some interesting points about the current political and economical situation in the country. An Obituary
As I am typing this, there are long fuel lines all around towns, with some cars in line already for several days, hoping for a petrol delivery. I just received an email from a fellow teacher, warning me to avoid a particular area of town, as "Petrol queue was very nasty near Santa Plaza this morning, an accident plus soldiers and police. The road was completely blocked. " My Tank has less than a quarter tank of diesel and it seems near impossible to get diesel without staying in line for days, which I am not doing.
The newest queues I've seen around town are for SUGAR, of all things. I personally use sugar when baking and that's about it. But for the people of Malawi, sugar is one of the most important staples of their diet. A cup of tea is not complete without at least 5 heaping tablespoons of sugar, so you are basically drinking tea with your sugar. My staff goes through sugar like there is no tomorrow. Lately, I've been limiting their sugar intake by resolving to hide the sugar I have. It has happened before that I was preparing to bake something and only found one cup of sugar left in the 5 kgs bag!!! Kind of feel bad about having to hide sugar, but it's the only way I can assure that the sugar will be there when I need it.
As for president Bingu's death, the next 10 days will be a period of national mourning. What will happen during this time will be watched by all people living in Malawi and by loads of outside organizations and countries. I do sincerely hope that the transition period is seamless and uneventful and that the new President of Malawi (who according to the constitution should be the current vice-president Joyce Banda) reinstates the diplomatic links with the UK. Also that the foreign aid that had been withdrawn comes back.
Only the future will tell. Keep Malawi in your thoughts for the next few weeks...
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