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Britain 'to resume direct aid to Malawi'

Britain plans to resume direct aid to Malawi following the death of its autocratic president Bingu wa Mutharika, the country's new head of state said.

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Britain plans to resume direct aid to Malawi following the death of its autocratic president Bingu wa Mutharika, the country's new head of state said onTuesday.

As the biggest bilateral aid donor to the former colony, Britain contributed an estimated 30 per cent of the country's budget, until a diplomatic spat saw its ambassador expelled and it suspended pounds 19?million in general budget support to Malawi. But the death of Mutharika on Thursday, and the assumption of office of his more moderate vice president, Joyce Banda, on Sunday, appears to have started a change in relations.

Banda, the second woman to become an African president in modern history, who became a fierce critic of Mutharika's policies, said Britain had already been in touch to express its wish to normalise diplomatic relations.

She claimed that Henry Bellingham, the British minister for Africa, had told her an envoy would be sent soon.

"He also said as soon as we do something on some of the bad legislation we have, British aid will resume," she said.

Andrew Mitchell, the Secretary of State for International Development, was more cautious.

"British development aid provides significant support to the Malawian people through programmes in health, education and other areas, and I look forward to discussing the new president's priorities and responding to them," he said.

Fergus Cochrane-Dyet, the British high commissioner, was expelled from Malawi in April last year after WikiLeaks revealed that he had described Mutharika as autocratic and intolerant of criticism.

In July, Britain said that it was cutting the pounds 19?million of aid that goes directly to the Malawian government, from the average pounds 93?million it spends on the country each year, citing concerns about human rights abuses and a law clamping down on opposition. Several international organisations and countries also suspended direct aid to Malawi.

John Kapito, from Malawi's Human Rights Commission, said that the recovery of Malawi's economy would be much harder if British aid was not resumed.


 

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