LILONGWE. – Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has decreed three days of national mourning after two members of his cabinet and two senior politicians succumbed to Covid-19 on Tuesday.

Local government minister Lingson Belekenyama and the minister for transport Muhammad Sidik Mia died in the capital Lilongwe.

The two are the highest ranking public officials so far to succumb to the virus in Malawi. They were senior members of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the main partner in an alliance that unseated former-leader Peter Mutharika in a second-round election in June 2020, delivering victory to President Chakwera. Mia had been tipped as a possible successor to Chakwera.

The former governor of Malawi’s central bank, Francis Perekamoyo, and the principal secretary in the ministry of information, Ernest Kantchentche, also died of the disease, the government announced.

The deaths followed a cabinet meeting and other gatherings attended by politicians over the Christmas period, but officials did not say where the victims were infected.

All 31 of Malawi’s cabinet attended the meeting in the president’s oval office on December 21, and the following day labour minister Ken Kandodo reporting having contracted the coronavirus. He has since recovered. Another minister, Rashid Gaffar, is self-isolating at home.

“We have entered the eye of the pandemic”, Chakwera said during an address to the nation on Tuesday afternoon.

He said the government was considering declaring a state of emergency.

On Monday, Malawi recorded 452 new Covid-19 cases and 10 new deaths, the highest daily average since the first case was confirmed in April, the co-chair of the presidential taskforce on Covid-19, John Phuka, said in a statement.

He said Malawi has had a total of 9 027 cases and 235 deaths. Some 1 852 of the cases were imported, mostly from returnees from SA, where a new highly contagious variant of the virus has been found.

On Tuesday, the presidency said it was cutting visits to the State House to ensure the President’s safety, local daily the Nation reported. Weekly press briefings have also been suspended.

On Sunday, Chakwera said he was entering a 21-day prayer and fasting session against Covid-19.

The pastor-cum politician has been criticized for not taking the pandemic seriously. – Africanews

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