Bingu wa Mutharika

==Early life and career==
Bingu wa Mutharika was born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom on 24 February 1934 in the village of Kamoto in [[Thyolo District]], and is a member of the [[Lomwe people|Lomwe ethnic group]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/bingu-wa-mutharika-president-of-malawi-dies-at-78/2012/04/06/gIQARMMk0S_story_1.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=T. Rees | last=Shapiro | title=Bingu wa Mutharika, president of Malawi, dies at 78 | date=8 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="BBC">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17628591 "Malawi's President Mutharika treated for cardiac arrest"], BBC News, 6 April 2012</ref> Mutharika's parents, Ryson Thom Mutharika and Eleni Thom Mutharika, were both members of the Church of Scotland Mission which later became [[Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian]]. His father was a teacher for 37 years and his mother taught the women of the Mvano group.{{Citation needed|date=April 2012}}

Upon completing his primary education at Ulongwe Mission and Chingoli, Mulanje, Ntambanyama, Malamulo, in Thyolo and Henri Henderson Institute in [[Blantyre]], Mutharika obtained a Grade A [[Cambridge]] Overseas School Leaving Certificate at Dedza Secondary School in 1956. After that, he joined the Nyasaland civil service. In 1964, he was one of the 32 Malawians selected by [[Hastings Kamuzu Banda]] (President of [[Malawi]] 1961–1994) to travel to [[India]] on an [[Indira Gandhi]] scholarship for 'fast track' diplomas. The BBC reports that he went to India to "escape then President Hastings Banda's crackdown on political opponents". At some point during the 1960s, he also changed his name, to Bingu wa Mutharika.<ref name="BBC" />{{Failed verification|date=August 2021}} In India, Mutharika earned his bachelor's degree in Economics from the [[Shri Ram College of Commerce]], Delhi. Subsequently, he attended the [[Delhi School of Economics]] graduating with a M.A. degree in Economics. He later obtained a PhD degree in Development Economics from [[Pacific Western University]]. Mutharika also completed short courses on Business Management, Financial Analysis, Trade Promotion, Political Leadership, regional Economic Co-operation and Human Relations.<ref>{{cite web |author=NetNewsPublisher |url=http://www.netnewspublisher.com/african-union-elects-president-of-malawi-as-new-chairman/ |title=African Union elects president of Malawi as new chairman |publisher=Netnewspublisher.com |access-date=13 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208023802/http://www.netnewspublisher.com/african-union-elects-president-of-malawi-as-new-chairman/ |archive-date=8 February 2010  }}</ref> In the early 1990s, he was one of the first to be employed at the Preferential Trade Area of East and Central Africa (PTA) and became its secretary-general in 1991.<ref>{{cite book |last=M. Kalinga |first=Owen J. |date=2012 |title=Historical Dictionary of Malawi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FuXPkCVjzasC&q=mutharika+historical+dictionary+of+malawi+in+the+early+1990s&pg=PA331 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=331 |isbn=9780810859616 }}</ref>

Mutharika served in the Malawi civil service. He served as an administrative officer in the Government of Malawi and also in Zambia. He was offered the Deputy Governorship of the reserve Bank of Malawi and appointed Minister of Economic Planning and Development in 2002.{{Citation needed|date=April 2012}}

He also worked at the World Bank as a Loans Officer and at the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa, as Director of Trade and Development Finance and as Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa [[COMESA]], covering 22 member states.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wellen |first=Russ |url=http://www.fpif.org/articles/malawi_makes_africa_takes |title=Malawi Makes, Africa Takes? |publisher=FPIF |date=11 August 2011 |access-date=13 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedignityproject.org.uk/country_profile-2.html |title=Country Profile |publisher=Thedignityproject.org.uk |access-date=13 January 2012 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Bingu Wa Mutharika (At a Glance) |url=http://myafrica.allafrica.com/view/people/main/id/07-vism9dWptMaQy.html |title=allAfrica.com: myAfrica – People |publisher=Myafrica.allafrica.com |access-date=13 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617021639/http://myafrica.allafrica.com/view/people/main/id/07-vism9dWptMaQy.html |archive-date=17 June 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>