President Mutharika consoles Muluzi, Busile: JB sends condolence message

Malawi President Peter Mutharika on Tuesday joined former president Bakili Muluzi , his family and mourners who were paying a vigil at Naperi home of  former president’s first born  daughter Esmie Muluzi-Malisita who died after being struck by lightning at Mpemba in Blantyre on Monday.

Muluzi-Malisita, who until her death, was a member of the board of directors for Joy Media Group – the operators of Joy FM radio and Joy TV, her friend Hazel Busile  as the two were helping out in fertiliser application at a garden in Mpemba.

President Mutharika accompanied by the First Lady visited Muluzi family in Naperi to personally “ console and to comfort” Muluzi and the bereaved family.

Mutharika said he offered his “deepest sympathies” to Muluzi on the death of his daughter  who was also sister to Minister of Lands Housing and Urban Development Atupele Muluzi.

The President described the death of the two ladies as  heart-breaking .

Mutharika was seen hugging to comfort a visibily grief-stricken Muluzi and offered words of sympathy as the two talked calmly.

“Those of us who interacted with the deceased will remember her as a polite and well-mannered religious woman who treated everyone with love and consideration,” Mutharika said of Esmie Muluzi-Malisita.

Meanwhile, former president Joyce Banda who has been living abroad  said she also learnt with “great shock” about the tragic and untimely death of Muluzi-Malisita.

In her condolence message seen by Nyasa Times, Banda said: “Esmie was a loving daughter of former President Dr. BakiliMuluzi and Mrs. Annie Muluzi, a dedicated member of the UDF, a loving wife and mother.

“Having been very close to the Muluzi family for many years, Retired Chief Justice Richard Banda and I are also aware of how close HonourableAtupeleMuluzi was to his sister, Mrs. EsmieMalisita-Muluzi, and therefore how painful this death is to him.

“It is therefore extremely difficult for me to find the right words with which to comfort the entire family except to ask God that He sustains the entire family during this difficult time. I also pray for Dr. Malisita and the children as they try to understand this tragedy,” reads the condolence message.