State House fires staff for bewitching Bingu

About 15 presidential security guards and workers at State House have been forced out of the Presidential Palace on suspicion that they were bewitching President Bingu Mutharika.

One of the dismissed guards told Nyasa Times that they received instruction from Presidential Guard Commander, Assistant Commissioner Mukhithwa to leave the palace because of bewitching Mutharika.

"We were surprised that we were moved out of State House because the Guard Commander said the President is annoyed that we are bewitching him," said one of the guards.

"Mukhithwa said the President got revelation from a witch doctor he had picked Mozambique," said the source.

One of the guards who were forced out of State House is Assistant Supritendant Chikhungu.

Mukhithwa declined to comment when contacted by Nyasa Times.

But one of the dismissed guards wondered how the First Citizen would dwell his belief in traditional superstitions.

"The President should not waste his energy to battle his illness by believing in traditional superstition. It was the same case when the First Lady was ill, staff were being accused of bewitching her, really can we create cancer," said the staff who we can not name.

Mutharika is on record to have moved out of his New State House because it is haunted.

Pastor Malani Mtonga his religious advisor reportedly told journalists that Christian priests had been called to exorcise the "evil spirits" as the President was feeling rodents crawling all over his body during sleep.

Mtonga later denied having told the journalists but Mabvuto Banda of Reuters-Thompson news agency said he had an audiotape of a telephone interview in which Mtonga, confirmed that he was praying to dispel evil spirits from the palace.

Security forces arrested Banda and BBC’s Raphael Tenthani who wrote the ghost story.

The opulent 300-room New State House was build by founding President Kamuzu Banda who only spent only 90 days in the palace which took 20 years to build and cost US$100m.

Dr Bakili Muluzi when he came to power in 1994 refused to live there, condemning its "obscene opulence".