Malawi President Mutharika dies at 78

Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika, who sparked a political and economic crisis with a crackdown on opponents demanding an end to fuel and foreign- currency shortages, died Friday of a heart attack. He was 78.

A former World Bank economist, Mutharika was elected president in 2004 and won plaudits at home and abroad for ending years of intermittent food shortages. During his first five years in office, the economy of the southern African nation, the world's biggest producer of burley tobacco, used principally for cigarettes, grew an average 6.6 percent annually. Mutharika won 66 percent of the vote and a second five-year term in 2009.

His reputation soured in July 2011, when his security forces killed 19 people protesting fuel shortages and rising food costs. The United States and United Kingdom suspended aid to Malawi, which relies on donor funds to finance as much as 40 percent of its budget.

The government was forced to rein in spending, while the central bank devalued Malawi's kwacha by 10 percent in August to address the foreign-exchange shortages. The economy depends on tobacco, tea and sugar for export income.

Mutharika refused to bow to demands from good-governance groups to step down or call a referendum on his popularity, saying on March 22 that he was ready to fight those who challenged his authority.

"I will continue to run this country until 2014," Mutharika said at the time. "I will not step down because the constitution of this country mandates me to run for a full five-year term."

The United States and Kenya expressed condolences Friday, according to emailed statements. The United States also expressed concern about the delay in transferring power to Vice President Joyce Banda, who called for constitutional order in comments broadcast on Zodiak, a Lilongwe-based private television station.

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Banda was dismissed from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in 2010 for allegedly undermining power within the party, London-based Control Risks said on its website today.

"The ruling party will use the coming days to regroup and explore ways in which to ensure that the president's brother assumes the presidency," according to Control Risks, which said the DPP may push for early elections. Peter Mutharika was nominated by the DPP to run in 2014, the risk analysis group said.