Mutharika speaks about fall: Malawi President says ‘growing old is like a small child’

Malawi President Peter Mutharika has commented on his much-publicised fall at outside of Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe during a tree-planting ceremony on Friday , describing the incident as “nothing to worry about”.

Mutharika commente are on a Facebook page widely believed to be his that there was “nothing to worry about”.

“Falling down is not a crime. Anyone can fall down. Its just a matter of slipperly place and how you have walked,” the Malawi leader wrote also quoted by News24.

“ I have fallen down so many times when I was a child. You should know that when a person is growing old, is like a small child who can easily fall down. How many times have you fallen down? So many times. Do not waste your time talking about somebody’s fall because tomorrow its you. Check what has made you to fall down and not where you have fallen down,” Mutharika wrote.

Law scholar Sunduzwayo Madise queried the Facebook page wondering if it President Mutharika himself writing or his aides.

Mutharika, who continue to discharge his normal duties as President, appeared unhurt following the dramatic fall which attracted social media buzz after the photo was first published in Sunday Times newspaper and also posted on Nyasa Times with observers linking the tumble to old age and ill health.

The presidential spokesman Gerald Viola, however, dismissed reports, saying Mutharika has a clean bill of health.

Viola speaking on Daybreak Malawi program on Capital FM said that Mutharika was “fine” and that no medical personnel had been flown in from South Africa to attend to him, as indicated by some reports.

“The president is fine. He is not sick. If you talk about the slipping of the president that happened yesterday [Friday], it’s normal, it’s just like any other human being…,” Viola said.

Viola said Mutharika stood on a “rotten” brick which broke and resulted in the president slipping.

Mutharika’s fall continues to be a hot subject of social media debate, with some saying there was nothing newsworthy about it as everyone has fallen at one time or another and argued that it showed he was human.

Others however, poked fun of his fall and the incident as embarrassing.

Meanwhile, Nyasa Times understands that although government officials appeared to be publicly taking the incident lightly, it was a serious security issue that would see those who were supposed to be closely monitoring his movement in trouble.

Heads are rolling at State House following the photo which appeared in the newspaper.

Presidential guard Supritendant Ben Mwaliwa has seen been booted out of State House and there is expected to be more casualties .

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