He was also President of the Democratic Progressive Party, which he founded in February 2005; it obtained a majority in Malawi's parliament in the 2009 general election.

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 ethnic group.

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.

[3][failed verification] In India, Mutharika earned his bachelor's degree in Economics from the Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi.

Mutharika also completed short courses on Business Management, Financial Analysis, Trade Promotion, Political Leadership, regional Economic Co-operation and Human Relations.

[10] Two years later, in October 2008, the DPP's national governing council unanimously chose Mutharika as the party's candidate for the 2009 election,[11] which he won with 66.7% of the vote.

[12] During President Mutharika's first term in office (2004–2008), the country achieved a high rate of agricultural production and food security.

The President's initiatives, centred on a programme of agricultural subsidy, benefited approximately 1,700,000 resource poor smallholder farmers.

[22] He proposed a new partnership with other African nations, which he called the "African Food Basket",[23] outlining a strategy incorporating subsidies to small farmers, especially women, improvements in irrigation, and improving agriculture and food security over 5 years through innovative interventions that comprise subsidies, increased budgetary allocations, private sector investment and affordable information and communications technology.

Approximately half of the country's subsistence farmers received vouchers which provided discounts on maize seed and fertiliser.

To sustain the program, the Malawi Government allocated 11 per cent of its budget for 2010/2011 to agriculture, continuing a rare record of commitment on this scale in Africa.

[citation needed] As a result of the Cochrane-Dyet 2011 cable controversy that accused Mutharika of being increasingly 'arrogant' and 'autocratic', he expelled the British High Commissioner.

[26] In 2011, days of nationwide protests occurred, sparked by worsening fuel shortages, rising prices and high unemployment.

Malawi's health ministry confirmed 18 deaths in the northern cities of Karonga and Mzuzu as a result of police using live ammunition to quell protests.

His condition was initially announced as "critical", and police were deployed throughout the capital with 15 Army officers posted at the Vice-President's residence.

[35] His death was officially confirmed on 7 April,[36] the day Joyce Banda was sworn in as Malawi's first female president despite controversy following Information and Civic Education Minister Patricia Kaliati's statement that "the conduct of the honourable Joyce Banda in forming her own opposition party precludes her from being eligible to succeed the presidency,"[37] while the country's security forces also wanted the constitutional order to prevail.

[38] The former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania Charles Stith said of Mutharika that he was "unwavering in his commitment to improve the plight of Malawi's poor" and that he was "one of Africa's most courageous and conscientious leaders.