Malawi's First Lady, Ethel Mutharika, Dies

 

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - Malawi's First Lady, Ethel Mutharika, died Monday afternoon, the presidency confirmed here Tuesday.

"It is with deep regret that we announce the death of the First Lady, Her Excellency Madame Ethel Mutharika who died peacefully earlier this (Monday) afternoon," read the statement from the presidency.

In the Statement, the presidency said full details for state funeral will be announced later. The Government has meanwhile announced a month-long mourning period for the First lady.

Mutharika has been unwell for a while getting in and out of hospitals for breast cancer treatment.

Presidency Press officer Chikumbutso Mtumodzi said Ethel died at the New State house in the capital, Lilongwe.

Mutharika, who was born in Zimbabwe, met the young Mutharika- then a civil servant- in the early 1960s.

The Mutharikas run a farm in Zimbabwe. They have four grown up children. She was in her mid-60s.

Meanwhile, Parliament- currently meeting in Lilongwe for the 2006/07 budget session- adjourned indefinitely on Monday.

Speaker of Parliament Louis Chimango said the National Assembly was joining the rest of the country in mourning the death of the First Lady.

"We are joining the State President in mourning the First Lady and as such Parliament will not meet until further communication from my office," he told the 193-member Parliament.
 
Blantyre - 29/05/2007
 
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