JB appoints commissioners in Bingu’s death inquiry
Malawi President Joyce Banda has appointed commissioners to probe late president Bingu wa Mutharika’s death in office and alleged attempts to keep her from taking his place, Office of President and Cabinet (OPC) has announced.
A statement from OPC signed by chief secretary Bright Msaka says the commission will be chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Elton Malawian Singini
Other members of the commission include lawyer Jaba Alide, pathologist Charles Dzamalala ,former police chief Joseph Aironi, Tiwonge Loga, Elizabeth Siwale, Father Joseph Mpinganjira, activist Brian Nyasulu and Esther Chiwoko
President Banda informed parliament that the commission will look into when and how Mutharika died, what medical attention he received, and the “activities of various individuals during and in managing the transition.”
After Mutharika died April 5, the government took two days to confirm his death and allow Banda, his vice president, to step in.
The former ruling DPP were trying to prevent Banda from becoming president, even though the constitution decrees the vice president should take over.
They were planning to install the brother of Mutharika, then Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mutharika as the interim president while they try to use the courts to block Joyce Banda becoming the president.
Nyasa Times were the first to break the news of Mutharika’s sudden collapse after a secret meeting with lawmaker Agnes Penemulungu.
Widow to late Muthalika, former first lady Callista, is reportedly suspicious about the manner her husband died.
