The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has described the death of Malawi’s President His Excellency Professor Bingu wa Mutharika as a great loss of a true icon who served with distinction as the organization’s first Secretary General and as Head of State and Government, Vice Chairperson and finally, as Chairperson of the COMESA Authority.
In the letter of condolences addressed to Her Excellency Mrs Joyce Hilda Banda, the new President of Malawi, COMESA Secretary General Mr Sindiso Ngwenya said President Mutharika will be remembered for having crafted the COMESA Treaty whose philosophy and ideological underpinning is that Africa can only develop through collective action and shared sovereignty.
He added that President Mutharika, who was fondly referred to as the ‘Ngwazi’ made enormous contribution towards attainment of sustainable economic development and eradication of poverty in the Republic of Malawi and Africa in general.
Malawi hosted the 15th COMESA Summit of Heads of State and Government in October 2011 and President Mutharika assumed the role of Chairperson which is supposed to last for a year.