Born Ryson Webster Thom in the southern tea-growing district of Thyolo in 1934, the schoolmaster's son adopted the more African name of Bingu Mutharika during the 1960s when pan-Africanism was sweeping across the continent.
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He later added the prefix 'wa' between his names to disguise his identity from Mr Banda's state security, who were hunting down his opponents around the world.
In 1992 he became a founding member of the then underground political pressure group, the United Democratic Front (UDF)
In 1992 he became a founding member of the then underground political pressure group, the United Democratic Front (UDF)
So in 1992, Bingu wa Mutharika was one of the founding members of UDF. He had all along been nurturing the dream to become president of Malawi someday. Even his daughter Duwa Mutharika confirmed this during her dad’s funeral when she said that her father always told her when....
she was young that he was going to be president one day and she was going to be her vice – that last part was of course just some dad and daughter jokes. Now, while UDF was preparing to hold its first Convention in 1993, Bingu thought his time to become president had come.
He decided he was going to contest at the primaries as presidential candidate. But when the time for the Convention which was held at Natural Resources College in Lilongwe had come, UDF party gurus led by Cassim Chilumpha blocked Bingu from contesting against Bakili Muluzi.
Among other issues, they claimed Bingu was never a genuine member of the party. They just wanted to suppress competition and pave way for Bakili Muluzi. Bingu became disgruntled but did not abandon his dream of becoming president someday.
As a result, towards the 1999 Elections, Bingu left UDF and formed his own party called the United Party which, sadly, lost the elections. When his newly formed party lost the 1999 elections, Bingu learned some good lesson – I will tell you the lesson he learned.
It was the same lesson that Chakufwa Chihana had learned in 1994 and gave up his presidential ambitions right away. So after learning from defeat, Bingu humbled himself and returned to UDF. Bakili Muluzi was kind enough. He gave him a job at the Reserve Bank where he became....
Deputy Governor in 1999. Later Muluzi appointed Bingu as Minister of Economic Planning and Development. But Bingu had not totally given up his dream. He was still dreaming in color. Towards the elections that followed in 2004, Bingu was handpicked by President Muluzi.
As presidential candidate for the UDF. I understand it was Humphrey Mvula who suggested the name of Bingu to Muluzi as successor after Muluzi had tasked him with the crucial job of identifying a potential successor who would be a puppet enough for Muluzi to continue ruling from
Behind I am sure that Mvula believed Bingu would be the needed puppet president because Bingu played his cards very well upon returning to UDF. He reinvented himself and became a good boy which successfully earned him back the trust of Muluzi and the UDF strategists.
The same Chilumpha who had blocked him from contesting against Muluzi in 1993, now became his running mate. In May 2004 he finally realized his dream and became president of Malawi.
The most important lesson that Bingu learned which motivated him to dissolve his UP and go back to UDF was that no matter how smart and visionary a political leader can be in Malawi, he cannot become president unless he leads a party that commands sufficient regional
votes because that is the only way you win elections in country where tribal and regional affiliations determine political allegiance.Chakufwa Chahana, the father of our democracy had learned this lesson earlier and quicker than Bingu. When he contested and lost in 1994.
Chihana never contested again until his death because he knew that the northern bloc could never, in his life time, give him the needed votes to become president. Bingu wa Mutharika was a genius and a patriot.
The END
The END
