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Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika (APM) – Malawi State President

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Arthur Peter Mutharika is internationally described as; a Malawian politician, educator and lawyer who has been President of Malawi since 31 May 2014. Mutharika has worked globally in the field of international justice. He is an expert on international economic law, international law and comparative constitutional law.

Born on 18th July, 1940 in the tea growing district of Thyolo in southern Malawi, Prof. Mutharika did his primary school in different schools including Mulanje Mission before proceeding to Dedza Secondary School with other notable Malawian Politicians like Late Chakufwa Chihana. Mutharika received his law degree from the University of London in 1965. He later in 1966 received his LL.M degree and in 1969 received JSD degree from Yale University.

As a professor, he 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 Washington State University (USA). He has also served as an Academic Visitor at the London School of Economics (UK). He also served as advisor to the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law initiative for Africa as well as being the Chairperson of the Institute for Democracy and Policy Studies.

Before becoming President after leading his party Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to win the 2014 elections, he held positions as Minister of Justice and later as Minister for Education, Science and Technology. 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. Standing as the candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Peter Mutharika was elected as President of Malawi in the 2014 election.

Early career

Mutharika received his law degree from the University of London in 1965. He then received his LL.M and JSD degrees from Yale University in 1966 and 1969 respectively. 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 39 years at Washington University (USA), and has served as an Academic Visitor at the London School of Economics (UK). He also served as advisor to the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law initiative for Africa. He was also the chair of the Institute for Democracy and Policy Studies in Malawi.

Late career

He assisted as an advisor in the campaign for his brother, Bingu wa Mutharika, for re-election as President in 2009. He then entered Malawian politics where he became a Minister in a cabinet he helped to create. 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.

His Excellency Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika is married to Prof. Gertrude Mutharika

WORKS INCLUDING NOTABLE ACADEMIC WORK
  • “Foreign Investment Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Emerging Policy and Legal Frameworks” (book)
  • “Accountability for Political Abuses in Pre-Democratic Malawi: The Primacy of Truth” – Third World Legal Studies, 2003.
  • “Approaches to Restorative Justice in Malawi”, 13th Commonwealth Law Conference, Melbourne, Australia, April 2003.
  • “Legal System of Malawi”, 3 Legal Systems of the World 949 (2002)
  • “Some Thoughts on Rebuilding African State Capability,” 76 Washington University Law Quarterly 281 (1998)
  • “Creating an Attractive Investment Climate in the Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Region,” 12 Foreign Investment Law Journal 1 (1997)
  • “The Role of the United Nations Security Council in African Peace Management: Some Proposals,” 17 Michigan Journal of International Law 537 (1996)
  • “The 1995 Democratic Constitution of Malawi,” 40 Journal of African Law 205 (1996)
  • “The Role of International Law in the Twenty-First Century: An African Perspective,” 18 Fordham International Law Journal 1706 (1995) and reprinted in 21 Commonwealth Law Bulletin 601 (1995).
AWARDS

He is a recipient of the 2008 International Jurist Award.

He received the African Leadership Award in September 2016.

Sources: Peoplepill.com

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