Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika in Critical Condition After Heart Attack
The President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, is said to be in critical condition after collapsing and going into cardiac arrest on Thursday morning.
"He was brought in on a convoy of three cars. His head was covered to hide his face as he was wheeled in on a wheel chair," a source told Reuters.
When asked about Mutharika's condition shortly after he was taken to a Lilongwe hospital, government spokeswoman, Patricia Kaliati, was unable to confirm his health status.
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"What you are saying is news to me. I was with him this morning and I can tell you that he is alright," Kaliati said.
No immediate details were available about Mutharika's condition, and it is unclear what caused his sudden collapse.
Mutharika, 78, won the presidential election in May 20, 2004, and has maintained office since being sworn in just days later.
The father of four replaced Muammar al-Gaddafi as leader of the African Union in January 2010, and was succeeded by Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in 2011.
The former World Bank official once heralded for his stewardship of a southern African country that is among the world's poorest. In recent years, he has been accused of trampling on democratic rights.
Mutharika first came to power in a 2004 election, and was overwhelmingly re-elected five years later. Elections are not due again in Malawi until 2014.
In 2010 he was honored for his success towards eliminating hunger by enhancing food security and won a Special Millennium Development Goal Award from the United Nations.
Mutharika has received international praise for promoting gender equality and female empowerment. He has also been applauded for developing Malawi's green revolution, and for drastically improving Malawi's economy during his first term in office.
