Madame Ethel Mutharika ('' c''. 1944 – 28 May 2007) was the First Lady of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

and wife of the

President of Malawi The president of the Republic of Malawi ( ny, Mtsogoleri wa Dziko la Malawi) is the head of state and head of government of Malawi. The president leads the executive branch of the Government of Malawi and is the commander-in-chief of the Malaw ...

Bingu wa Mutharika Bingu wa Mutharika (; born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom; 24 February 1934 – 5 April 2012) was a Malawian politician and economist who was President of Malawi from May 2004 until his death in April 2012. He was also President of the Demo ...

. Madam Mutharika was born in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. As First Lady, wa Mutharika was known for her charitable work and had established the Ethel Mutharika Foundation in an effort to help the poor of

. wa Mutharika died in Lilongwe after a long battle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at the age of 63.

Personal life

Mutharika was born in

. She had been married to President

. The couple had four children together.

Death

Madam Mutharika was given an official state funeral. Her body was laid in state at the New State House in Lilongwe. Her body was then moved to the cities of

Mzuzu Mzuzu is the capital of Malawi's Northern Region and is the third largest city by population in Malawi. The city has 221,272 residents and 20,000 commuters ( Mzuzu University students) with about 1.7 million people in its metropolitan area. It ...

on 2 June and

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

on 5 June. Her funeral took place at the Mutharikas farm in

Thyolo Thyolo is a town located in the Southern Region of Malawi. It is the administrative capital of Thyolo District. Traditional Authority Mphuka in Thyolo District is one of the 10 Traditional Authorities in Thyolo District in Malawi. There are a n ...

, a

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

growing district in southern Malawi.Following her death it was revealed that she had received cancer treatments in Malawi,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, as well as a number of other European and Asian nations.

Funeral

Zimbabwe President,

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

, led the retinue of foreign dignitaries, who also included Tanzanian President

Jakaya Kikwete Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (born 7 October 1950) is a Tanzanian politician who was the fourth president of Tanzania, in office from 2005 to 2015. Prior to his election as president, he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2005 under hi ...

, Zambian President

Rupiah Banda Rupiah Bwezani Banda (19 February 1937 – 11 March 2022) was a Zambian politician who served as the fourth president of Zambia from 2008 to 2011, taking over from Levy Mwanawasa, who died as the sitting president. Banda was an active participan ...

, Botswana and Zambian First Ladies, Mozambican Prime Minister Aires Ali, Swazi Deputy Prime Minister, former Taiwanese Prime Minister,

COMESA The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional economic community in Africa with twenty-one member states stretching from Tunisia to Eswatini. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area whi ...

Secretary-General Sindiso Ndema Ngwenya, ambassadors from Nigeria, Norway and South Africa, Kenyan cabinet ministers and the Zambian-based

Chewa Chewa may refer to: *the Chewa people *the Chewa language Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambiq ...

King Gawa Undi as well as hundreds of government and ruling party officials and local Malawians. Clergy at the First Lady's funeral called on the country's political leaders to unite in order to honour Mutharika. The ceremony was a rare occasion which brought together political leaders that do not normally see eye to eye. In his sermon, based Luke 13: 6 - 9, Reverend Reynold Mangisa said it was high time political leaders changed and carried on with the unity started by the First Lady's death. "The unity should not end with the mourning period, but we should see it continue," said the priest. Leader of Opposition,

John Tembo John Zenus Ungapake Tembo (born September 14, 1932
, Xinhua, May 19, 2004.) is a

Reverend Felix Chingota's eulogy added that Mutharika emulated Jesus and described Mutharika as Jesus who was difficult to be understood by people because of having vision.

Mpumulo wa Bata Mausoleum

In December 2010, President Mutharika unveiled the mausoleum in Thyolo. This was called Mpumulo wa Bata or Peaceful Rest. The opulent structure was built about 30 kilometres away from the commercial city of Blantyre in Thyolo in her honour. The mausoleum is a work which was "considerably and emotionally conceptualized". It consists of a dome, a gallery and a basement where her body is laid. It also contains some of her belongings. Mutharika noted that it is a national monument to be visited by Malawians as part of national heritage. Mutharika added that the mausoleum was a symbol of forgiveness, unity and togetherness. According to President Mutharika, “No single public money was used in the construction of the monument. Some 2,000 well-wishers from Malawi and abroad funded the mausoleum”. Malawians have dubbed this as the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

due to its high cost and extravagance.

was laid to rest at the mausoleum in May 2012.

References

External links

Malawi in mourning after first lady's deathScotsman.com: Malawi's memorials to late first lady raise eyebrowsHerald Tribune: Malawi's first lady to be buried next weekInternational Herald Tribune: Mugabe joins mourners at funeral of Malawi's First LadyInternational Herald Tribune: Malawi's First Lady Dies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutharika, Ethel 1940s births 2007 deaths First ladies and gentlemen of Malawi People from Lilongwe Zimbabwean emigrants to Malawi Deaths from cancer in Malawi