Peter Mutharika

Arthur Peter Mutharika (born 18 July 1940) is a Malawian politician and lawyer who was President of Malawi from May 2014 to June 2020.

Mutharika has worked in the field of international justice, specialising in international economic law, international law and comparative constitutional law.

Mutharika received his LL.B. law degree from the University of London in 1965.

He then received his LL.M. and J.S.D. degrees from Yale University in 1966 and 1969 respectively.

Mutharika has been admitted to the bar in Tanzania as a professional lawyer since 1971.

As a professor, he has taught at University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Haile Selassie University (Ethiopia), Rutgers University (USA), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research Program for Foreign Service Officers from Africa and Asia at Makerere University (Uganda), and for 37 years at Washington University in St. Louis, and has served as an Academic Visitor at the London School of Economics.

He also served as advisor to the American Bar Association's Rule of Law initiative for Africa.

In 1995 he argued for limiting presidential powers in Malawi.

He then entered Malawian politics where he became a Minister in a cabinet he helped to create.

He assisted as an advisor in the campaign for his brother, Bingu wa Mutharika, for re-election as President in 2009.

In May 2009, he was elected to the Malawian Parliament, and he was subsequently appointed by his brother Bingu wa Mutharika to the Malawi Cabinet as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

In 2010, tensions rose over claims that President Bingu wa Mutharika planned to name Peter Mutharika, his brother, as the party successor over the sitting vice-president, Joyce Banda.

The Vice-President was later fired from the DPP and launched her own party, the People's Party (PP).

Some people in DPP resigned over the dismissal of the Vice-President.

In line with Malawi's laws, Joyce Banda still remained the country's Vice-President although she was fired from the DPP.

Mutharika also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2012.

He was charged to help bridge relations between Malawi and the United Kingdom due to the deterioration of public diplomacy between the two nations after the Cochrane-Dyet controversy.

In August 2011, Mutharika decided to resign from two international court cases with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes that he was arbitrating on Zimbabwe where foreign investors sued the Zimbabwean government for breaches of bilateral investment treaties.

This was due to concerns about his impartiality because of Bingu Mutharika's close associations with the Mugabe government.

He is the President of DPP in Malawi.

He then became Minister of Education, Science and Technology and as of 8 September 2011 he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new "war cabinet".

In August 2011, the DPP National Governing Council (NGC) endorsed Peter Mutharika as presidential candidate for the 2014 elections.

This announcement came a few days after the 20 July 2011 protests where nationwide strikes were held against Bingu Mutharika's regime.

His appointment was endorsed by the DPP NGC since the party did not hold a convention to elect new leaders.

The Secretary General, Wakuda Kamanga stated that the decision was made in spite of the protests because the party believed that the "anger would fade".

This endorsement also led to the firing of those that were against the nomination process within the party including first vice-president Joyce Banda and second vice-president Khumbo Kachali.

Peter Mutharika's candidacy for position as a government minister and his eligibility for presidency had been controversial because of speculation and doubt over his Malawian citizenship.

He informally served as an adviser to his older brother, President Bingu wa Mutharika, on issues of foreign and domestic policy from the onset of his election campaign until the President's death on 5 April 2012.

He has also held positions as Minister of Justice and later as Minister for Education, Science and Technology.

He also continued to serve as an adviser to the President until the President's death in 2012 in issues of foreign and domestic policy.

Mutharika was part of a three-man tribunal that was arbitrating international cases.

Standing as the candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Peter Mutharika was elected as President of Malawi in the 2014 election.

A senior Political and Administrative lecturer at the University of Malawi, Mustapha Hussein has stated that his "eligibility should be viewed in the context of his being Malawian, he would be above 35 years of age by 2014, and he has not been convicted of any criminal activities for the past seven years.".

Malawi's laws however, do not allow dual citizenship and it was wrongly speculated that he obtained US citizenship whilst living in the US and hence, had renounced his Malawian citizenship as is required by law.

Nonetheless, the US embassy in Lilongwe confirmed that he is not a citizen but a Green card holder.

The ruling DPP has stated that Mutharika is a Malawian citizen and would run for president as a Malawian citizen and not an American one.

There was controversy that, as the holder of a US Greencard, he owes an allegiance to the United States.

Therefore, people on the street are of the view that a nation cannot be run by someone who will be spending the minimum of three months in the US annually required to retain permanent resident status.

In February 2014, he relinquished his green card and permanent resident status.

Peter Mutharika was elected as President in the 2014 election.