Malawi President Mutharika turns 78 as world mark Mandela’s 100th  birthday

President Peter Mutharika has turned 78  and shows no sign of slowing down politically as he has has kicked off  his campaign for a second term of office.

Mutharika’s sister in-law Callista and others have been urging the President not to seek a second term of office, saying he is too old to rule the country, saying most critical state decisions are made by those who surround him.

But looking  fit and well Mutharika has dismissed such accusations as callous.

Mutharika is likely to celebrate his birthday in Lusaka, Zambia where he has gone Wednesday  morning to attend a 19 country member trading block, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) meeting.

Speaking on departure at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe, Mutharika said he will push that the youth should be fully integrated into economic activities of the countries.

His supporters have been posting happy birthday messages in various social media platforms.

Mutharika is celebrating his birthday  at a time the world is marking Africa’s greatest statesman Nelson Mandela birthday.

Anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who died in 2013, was born on July 18, 1918 and would have turned 100 Wednesday.

In death as in life  Mandela –  a revolutionary and activist turned political titan – is both celebrated and revered.

After his release from prison in 1990, where the apartheid regime held him for 27 years, Mandela set about re-engineering the state – first, as head of the African National Congress (ANC) and later as national president.

He was the first Black president of South Africa. His philanthropic work has inspired all of Africa.

Former  United States president Barack Obama has made  his first visit to  Africa since leaving the White House and delivered the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture to honor the the late anti-apartheid leader on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The  Obama speech drew attention to values that today are under threat and to rally people in Africa and elsewhere to push for tolerance and justice.

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