Buddo hill

Buddo, sometimes spelled as Budo, is a hill in Wakiso District, Central Uganda. Phonetically, Buddo is the correct spelling in Luganda, the native language of the local area.
Location.
Buddo is located in "Busiro County", Wakiso District, off of the Kampala-Masaka Highway, approximately , by road, southwest of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The coordinates of Buddo Hill are: 00 15 22N, 32 29 10E (Latitude:0.2560; Longitude:32.4860).
Overview.
With a peak at above sea level, Buddo is an important hill in the environs of Kampala. It carries cultural and academic significance. The cultural coronation site, where the Kabaka of Buganda is enthroned in a traditional ceremony is located on Buddo Hill and is known as Naggalabi Buddo. The hill is also the location of several elementary, middle and high schools, including Kings College Budo, a prestigious mixed boarding high school, attended by Buganda's Kings starting with Captain Sir Daudi Chwa II, the thirty-fourth (34th) Kabaka of the Kingdom of Buganda, who reigned between 1897 and 1939.
Landmarks.
Buddo boasts of the following landmarks:


List of Nigerian states in Yorubaland

There are thirty-six states in Nigeria. Eight states are in Yorubaland.
This is a list of States of Nigeria located in Yorubaland


Umaru Sanda Ndayako

Alhaji (Dr) Umaru Sanda Moshna Ndayako (CFR, OFR), (1937 – 8 September, 2003) was the 12th Etsu Nupe from one of the ruling houses of Bida. His parents were Muhammadu Ndayako (CBE), the late 9th Etsu Nupe and Aisha Nuadoro.
Background education.
Ndayako started elementary school at Elementary School Bida in 1945 and letter went to Ilorin for middle school in 1949 finishing in 1951, he obtained his high certificate at the prestigious Government College Zaria (now Barewa College Zaria) there he graduated in 1956, and then he attended Nigeria College of Art Science and Technology Zaria in 1957, then later proceed to University College Ibadan (now University of Ibadan) and obtained Bachelor Degree in 1962.
Career.
Ndayako started his government Careers in early 60's as an Assistant Secretary in Ministry of Local government Kaduna State also being the Assistant District Officer in charge of the Tiv Divisions and letter he was transfer to Kano State there he served as District Officer for Urban in 1965 he was Principal Secretary Ministry of Housing Lagos and was also Deputy Permanent Secretary of Political Division, in 1968 he was appointed Chancellor University of Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) Ile Ife, he once serve as member National Universities Commission and chairman Ahmadu Bello University council, and member National Council of States. He became the Etsu nupe in 1975 till his death in 2003, there he serve for 28 years being the longest holder of the title Etsu nupe, he was given national honour Commander of the order of the Federal Republic, CFR in 1982. He was also head of Technical Committee, set up by Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, leading eleven men's to reform the local government administration commitment and effectiveness, the committee was established in 1976 by Obasanjo Military Administration in Nigeria.
Ruling house.
Etsu Ndayako was of one ruling house of Bida, house Masaba which he succeed Etsu Bello of the house Usman Zaki his grandfather, the emirate has tree rulings houses and council Electors, Umaru was succeeded by Maliki (1884–1895) and later the title Etsu was introduced by Maliki until the succession to the Muhammadu Ndayako in 1935, Muhammadu Ndayako was the son of Muhammadu Makun of Dendo.
He built the General hospital of Bida, which was name after him "Umaru Sanda General Hospital" by the 13th Etsu Yahaya Abubakar, who was his niece and successor.
The Ndayako families.
The name Ndayako in Nupe kingdom of Bida serve as synonymous with royalties, with more than 20 houses in Bida, it is popular name known across the country, the family history came across during the Etsu Muhammadu Ndayako known as Baba Kudu, reigning for 27 years from 1935 to 1962, and Makun the third Etsu Nupe son and grandson of Malam Dendo mostly referred to as Manko, the Fulani Islamic Preacher from Kebbi sent by Usman dan Fodio to spread Islam in Nupe kingdom, the Ndayako's are very large family with Lineage spreading all over the kingdom and beyond, the tree rulings households, Usman Zaki, Masaba and Umaru Majigi have ruled the kingdom in rotation till today.
He died in september 2003 at Bida spending 28 years in throne on an unknown illness, after finishing the Project of Technical Committee for local government reforms.


East Providence, Rhode Island

East Providence is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 47,037 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth-largest city in the state.
Geography.
East Providence is located between the Providence and Seekonk Rivers on the west and the Seekonk area of Massachusetts on the east. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (19.33%) is water.
The following villages are located in East Providence:
History.
In 1641, the Plymouth Colony purchased from the Indians a large tract of land which today includes the northern half of East Providence (from Watchemoket to Rumford), Rehoboth, Massachusetts, Seekonk, Massachusetts, and part of Pawtucket. Four years later, John Brown of Plymouth bought a considerably smaller piece of land from the Indians, which today comprises the southern part of East Providence (Riverside), Barrington, and a small part of Swansea. Finally, in 1661, Plymouth completed the "North Purchase" from which Attleboro, North Attleboro, and Cumberland were later formed. Over the whole the authorities gave the name "Rehoboth". The center of this large settlement, which is sometimes referred to as "Old Rehoboth", is within the borders of modern East Providence. In 1812, the western half of Old Rehoboth was set off as a separate township called Seekonk, Massachusetts. Old Rehoboth's town center now became the heart of Old Seekonk. Finally, in 1862, the western part of Old Seekonk was ceded to Rhode Island and incorporated as East Providence.
Portuguese immigration.
Beginning around 1900 and continuing until the onset of the Great Depression in 1930, large numbers of Portuguese immigrants and descendants from Providence, Fall River, New Bedford, and Portugal settled in East Providence. By 1905, there were over 400 Portuguese in the town, the third-highest in the state. The Portuguese, like other ethnic groups, were drawn to East Providence primarily by the lure of jobs. Many employment opportunities were available in the Watchemoket area, where numerous immigrants settled.
Watchemoket Square.
In decades preceding the Civil War, Watchemoket Point was little more than a farming and fishing area with perhaps a few hundred residents. Watchemoket was situated directly across from the thriving city of Providence and thus benefited from the expansion of that community. More importantly, two bridges across the Seekonk River gave easy access to Watchmemoket. By the 1860s, tolls were no longer being charged to cross the Washington and Central Bridges, giving further stimulus to the growth of Watchemoket and the transformation of the village from a sleepy fishing area to the vital core of East Providence in 1862. Perhaps the first businesses to come to Watchemoket were inns built to service the large numbers of people coming through. The residents of Watchemoket also had their own library by the early 1870s. At first the organizers named it Ladies Library Association, but in 1885 they changed the named to Watchemoket Free Public Library. Already the commercial and population center of East Providence, by the mid-1880s, Watchemoket next became the political center as well. The town hall was moved from Rumford to the heart of the community, so it was more accessible. They purchased a lot on Taunton Avenue for $11,500 and erected a two-story brick building which opened in 1889. That same year the East Providence Police Department opened its headquarters in the town hall.
By 1922, Watchemoket Square was the heart of downtown East Providence, supporting over 100 businesses including two department stores, two restaurants, five barber shops, bakeries, and blacksmith shops. Ingraham Hall was village's centerpiece, featuring a concert hall on the second floor and shopping on the first. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show performed at Ingraham Hall when it came to Rhode Island. An Industrial National Bank branch opened in 1923 with much publicity. Piers lined Narragansett Bay; in 1880, 473 ships docked at Watchemoket unloading 256,000 tons of coal.
However, the neighborhood began a decline when the Washington Bridge drew traffic south of the area in 1927. Then the Hurricane of 1938 demolished the local oyster population. In 1955 Interstate 195 was built through the heart of Watchemoket, resulting in the northern half of the square to be demolished. Buildings which remain include the bank (now a comedy club), St. Mary's Episcopal Church, and Oddfellows' Hall.
Rumford.
For some time after the incorporation of the town in 1862, the area around the old "Ring of the Green" was referred to as East Providence Center. The official town hall was located here until 1889, as were several churches. Moreover, the village was the population center of East Providence, containing many farms and mills along the Ten Mile River. Many people migrated from East Providence Center to the new center at Watchemoket.
Riverside.
From the time of the Wannamoisett purchase in 1645 to the Civil War, the shore land from Watchemoket to Bullocks Point had remained a sparsely settled fishing and farming area. When East Providence was incorporated, no more than a few hundred of its residents made the coastal village their home. The white settlers had first learned of the plentiful supply of shellfish in the area from the Wampanoag Indians. More than two centuries later, the waters of Narragansett Bay, which washed the shores of Wannamoisett, still contained an abundant supply of edible sea treasures. Clams, quahogs, and oysters were harvested by Wannamoisett residents and sold in Providence. Arnold Medberry, for instance, brought his plow to the shoreline and began picking up clams by the handful. He loaded the shellfish on a cart and easily sold his entire day's catch in Providence. At that time, Medberry and his neighbors were referred to as "clamdiggers", a derogatory term comparable to the pejorative hayseed.
Already, by the early nineteenth century, individuals had begun to build summer homes, causing the population to double to about 500–600. During that time period, Cedar Grove, Lewis Station, Chimney Corners, Peck's Corner, Pleasant Bluffs, Sabin's Point, Sherman's Station, and Pomham were developed. New resort facilities were built, such as the Pomham House. Numbers of roads were lined with trees and houses, Christian churches were formed, a library was built, and the Narragansett Engine Company was formed in 1878. By that time, the residents were no longer dismissed as "clamdiggers", but regarded as townspeople.
While many transactions were taking place, Charles I. D. Looff came to Riverside. He was a wood carver for a furniture business in New York, and spent spare time in his basement carving wooden horses as a hobby. After long years of hard work, he produced the first steam-powered carousel and sold it to Crescent Park. He operated the carousel and designed a summer recreation area. By the early 1900s, New Englanders recognized Crescent Park as the leading amusement park in the region. Looff accomplished fantastic achievements and, after his death, his family continued to operate Crescent Park. The park closed in the 1970s and the land was used for condominiums, apartments and single-family homes. The Crescent Park Looff Carousel still remains.
Waterfront redevelopment.
Between 2003 and 2020, the East Providence Waterfront Commission and Planning Department has worked to redevelop old industrial sites and brownfields along most of East Providence's 14-mile coastline on the Seekonk River as mixed use residential, commercial, and light industrial zones.
Governance.
The City of East Providence is governed by an elected mayor and a five-member city council, with the mayor and counselors elected every four years. City council members are elected one each from four wards and one elected at-large.
Executive branch.
The mayor is both the ceremonial leader of the city and the chief executive officer. The mayor runs the daily operations of the city, enforces the charter and ordinances of the city and appoints all department heads except the city clerk. The current mayor of East Providence is Roberto DaSilva, who took office on January 9, 2019.
Up until January 9, 2019, the day-to-day operations were managed by a professional city manager appointed by the city council, and the mayor was the president of the city council, acting ceremonially.
Legislative branch.
The city council sets all city ordinances, sets the budget of the city (with recommendation from the mayor) and provides legislative oversight for city operations.
The city council elects a council president and council vice-president to preside over meetings. The city council also appoints the city clerk.
Up until 2019, The city council served two-year terms, and the city council oversaw the entire city government under a council-manager system.
, the members of the East Providence City Council are:
Judicial branch.
The City of East Providence has a municipal court, which hears cases regarding violations of municipal ordinances, housing code violations and minor traffic violations. The city also has a probate court, which handles estates, name changes, guardianships and related matters. Judges for both courts are appointed by the mayor with confirmation by the city council for a term of two years.
Education governance.
The city also has an elected school committee, elected for two year terms by the same ward system as the city council. The school committee has broad authority to manage the school system, including setting all school system policies, setting the school system budget (within the general appropriation by the city, state and federal government) as well as selecting and overseeing the Superintendent of Schools.
Other boards and commissions.
The city has an appointed library board of trustees which governs the city's library system and various other appointed governing and advisory boards and commissions.
Demographics.
As of the census of 2000, there were 48,688 people, 20,530 households, and 12,851 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,632.1 people per square mile (1,401.8/km2). There were 21,309 housing units at an average density of 1,589.6 per square mile (613.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.49% White, 5.02% African American, 0.46% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.80% from other races, and 4.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.89% of the population.
There were 20,530 households, out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $39,108, and the median income for a family was $48,463. Males had a median income of $34,342 versus $26,423 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,527. About 6.3% of families and 8.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those aged 65 or over.
The population has large immigrant communities from Portugal, the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde.
Education.
East Providence has 13 public and 5 non-public schools:


Alfred Reade Godwin-Austen

General Sir Alfred Reade Godwin-Austen (17 April 1889 – 20 March 1963) was a British Army officer who served during World War I and World War II.
Early life and military career.
The second son of Lieutenant Colonel A. G. Godwin-Austen, late the 24th and 89th, Reade Godwin-Austen was born in Frensham, Farnham in Surrey, on 17 April 1889. He was educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate and later at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst to pursue a military career, following both his father and great-grandfather.
He was a great-grandson of Major General Sir Henry Godwin (1784–1853) who commanded the British and Indian forces in the Second Anglo-Burmese War. His uncle was Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen, who gave his name to the second highest mountain in the Karakoram range; this mountain is now better known as K2.
Upon passing out from Sandhurst, Godwin-Austen was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the South Wales Borderers in 1909. During his service in the First World War he was awarded the Military Cross and twice mentioned in dispatches while serving as a staff officer with the 13th (Western) Division, a Kitchener's Army formation, in Gallipoli, Palestine and Mesopotamia.
Between the wars.
He attended the Staff College, Camberley as a student, from 1924 to 1925, alongside fellow students such as Ivor Thomas, Noel Beresford-Peirse, Vyvyan Pope, Douglas Graham, Michael O'Moore Creagh, Daril Watson, Archibald Nye, Humfrey Gale and Noel Irwin, all of whom rose to high command in the next war. He served in numerous staff positions at the War Office until receiving a position as an instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Due to a lack of promotion in his own regiment, Godwin-Austen transferred to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) and commanded the 2nd Battalion, from 1936 to 1937, before being employed with the British Military Mission to the Egyptian Army, from 1937 to 1938. His next appointment, during the Arab revolt in Palestine, in successive command of the 13th and 14th Infantry Brigades, the latter post being held until August 1939, shortly before the Second World War began.
World War II.
On the outbreak of war in September 1939, Godwin-Austen, mentioned in despatches for his services in Palestine, had just been promoted to the acting rank of major-general to become General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 8th Infantry Division. Bernard Montgomery had relinquished command and returned to England to command the 3rd Infantry Division. The understrength division was responsible for internal security in the British Mandate of Palestine. After the division was disbanded in February 1940, he was nominated in July to command the 2nd (African) Division which was forming in Kenya. He was again mentioned in despatches in July 1940.
In mid-August, before taking up his command, he was sent to British Somaliland, to take over the British forces during the Italian conquest of British Somaliland. His withdrawal at the decisive Battle of Tug Argan was fatal to his attempt to defend the territory but it allowed almost the entire Commonwealth contingent to withdraw to Berbera and evacuate by sea to Aden. Commonwealth losses in the short campaign are estimated to have been exceedingly light, about 260 (38 killed, 102 wounded and 120 missing).
The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, stung by the loss to British prestige, criticised General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of Middle East Command, concerning the loss of British Somaliland, which was a Middle East Command responsibility. Because of the few casualties, Churchill fretted that the British had abandoned the colony without enough of a fight. He demanded the suspension of Godwin-Austen and the convening of a court of inquiry.
Wavell claimed that the defence of Somaliland was a textbook withdrawal in the face of superior numbers. He pointed out to Churchill that "A bloody butcher's bill is not the sign of a good tactician". According to Churchill's staff, Wavell's retort moved Churchill to greater fury than they had ever seen. Wavell refused to accede to Churchill's demand and Godwin-Austen moved on to take command of his division in Kenya on 12 September. Churchill was to retain his grudge towards him.
During the East African Campaign he led the 2nd (African) Division (renamed 12th (African) Division) as part of East Africa Force, commanded by Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham, in its advance from Kenya into Italian East Africa. His division invaded Italian Somaliland on 11 February and by late February had scored an emphatic victory over Italian forces at Gelib. Once Mogadishu had been taken, Cunningham swung his force inland across the Ogaden desert and into Ethiopia, entering the capital, Addis Ababa on 6 April.
At the end of the campaign he was promoted to his last fighting command, leading the Western Desert Force (which became XIII Corps) in the Western Desert campaign in North Africa. During Operation Crusader he was vociferous in his opposition to the suggestion of Alan Cunningham, by now commanding Eighth Army and so once more his direct superior, that they should abandon the offensive after the setback of Rommel's "dash to the wire". The C-in-C Middle East, now General Claude Auchinleck, chose to continue the offensive; Crusader went on to relieve the Siege of Tobruk and push the Axis forces back to El Agheila and Cunningham was relieved of his command.
When Rommel counter-attacked in January 1942, the Allies were forced to retreat in some confusion. Godwin-Austen, seeing that one of his divisions, 4th Indian Infantry Division was under threat, after consulting with Cunningham's successor, Lieutenant-General Neil Ritchie, ordered them to withdraw. Ritchie changed his mind and issued a countermand directly to Major-General Francis Tuker, the divisional commander. Feeling that Ritchie had by this action displayed a lack of confidence in him, he tendered his resignation to Auchinleck, which was reluctantly accepted. Tuker was later to write
In spite of support from General Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) and Sir James Grigg, the Secretary of State for War, Churchill was adamant that Godwin-Austen should not receive a new posting. Churchill relented in November after the intervention of the South African Field Marshal Jan Smuts and Godwin-Austen was appointed Director of Tactical Investigation at the War Office. He subsequently became Vice Quartermaster-General at the War Office and as the war ended, the Quartermaster-General and then Principal Administrative Officer in India, reporting to the C-in-C, General Sir Claude Auchinleck.
Postwar.
He was knighted in 1946 and retired from the army on 5 March 1947, after having achieved the rank of general. Serving as Chairman of the South-West Division of the National Coal Board, from 1946 to 1947, he was also Colonel of the South Wales Borderers from 1950 to 1954. Godwin-Austen, a bachelor, after suffering from a long illness, died in Maidenhead on 20 March 1963, just under a month from his 74th birthday.


Volubilis

Volubilis (; ; ) is a partly excavated Berber city in Morocco situated near the city of Meknes, and commonly considered as the ancient capital of the kingdom of Mauretania. Built in a fertile agricultural area, it developed from the 3rd century BC onward as a Berber, then proto-Carthaginian, settlement before being the capital of the kingdom of Mauretania. It grew rapidly under Roman rule from the 1st century AD onward and expanded to cover about with a circuit of walls. The city gained a number of major public buildings in the 2nd century, including a basilica, temple and triumphal arch. Its prosperity, which was derived principally from olive growing, prompted the construction of many fine town-houses with large mosaic floors.
The city fell to local tribes around 285 and was never retaken by Rome because of its remoteness and indefensibility on the south-western border of the Roman Empire. It continued to be inhabited for at least another 700 years, first as a Latinised Christian community, then as an early Islamic settlement. In the late 8th century it became the seat of Idris ibn Abdallah, the founder of the Idrisid dynasty of Morocco. By the 11th century Volubilis had been abandoned after the seat of power was relocated to Fes. Much of the local population was transferred to the new town of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, about from Volubilis.
The ruins remained substantially intact until they were devastated by an earthquake in the mid-18th century and subsequently looted by Moroccan rulers seeking stone for building Meknes. It was not until the latter part of the 19th century that the site was definitively identified as that of the ancient city of Volubilis. During and after the period of French rule over Morocco, about half of the site was excavated, revealing many fine mosaics, and some of the more prominent public buildings and high-status houses were restored or reconstructed. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed for being "an exceptionally well preserved example of a large Roman colonial town on the fringes of the Empire".
Name.
The origins of its name are unknown but may be a Latinisation of the Amazigh word "Walilt", meaning oleander, which grows along the sides of the valley.
The Lewis & Short Latin dictionary gives the Latin meaning of "volubilis" as ""that" [which] "is turned round" or (more freq.) "that" [which] "turns itself round", "turning", "spinning", "whirling", "circling", "rolling", "revolving."" The word is mentioned in Horace's Epistles (I, 2, 43): ("It flows and will flow, swirling on forever.") In Classical Latin, the "v" in "volubilis" was pronounced like a "w," making the pronunciation closer to modern Amazigh and Arabic pronunciations.
 (1828–1884) discovered that what some sources in Arabic referred to as "Qasr Fara'on" ( "Pharaoh's Palace") corresponded with Volubilis.
Foundation and Roman occupation.
Built on a shallow slope below the Zerhoun mountain, Volubilis stands on a ridge above the valley of Khoumane (Khuman) where it is met by a small tributary stream called the Fertassa. It overlooks a rolling fertile alluvial plain north of the modern city of Meknes. The area around Volubilis has been inhabited at least since the Late Atlantic Neolithic, some 5,000 years ago; archaeological excavations at the site have found Neolithic pottery of design comparable to pieces found in Iberia. By the third century BC, the Carthaginians had a presence there, as evidenced by the remains of a temple to the Punic god Baal and finds of pottery and stones inscribed in the Phoenician language.
The city lay within the kingdom of Mauretania, which became a Roman client state following the fall of Carthage in 146 BC. The Punic influence lasted for a considerable time afterwards, as the city's magistrates retained the Carthaginian title of "suffete" long after the end of Punic rule. Juba II of Numidia was placed on the Mauretanian throne by Augustus in 25 BC and turned his attention to building a royal capital at Volubilis. Educated in Rome and married to Cleopatra Selene II, the daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, Juba and his son Ptolemy were thoroughly Romanised kings, although of Berber ancestry; their preference for Roman art and architecture was clearly reflected in the city's design.
After Claudius annexed Mauretania in 44 AD, the city grew substantially due to its wealth and prosperity, derived from the fertile lands of the province which produced valuable export commodities such as grain, olive oil and wild animals for gladiatorial spectacles. At its peak in the late 2nd century, Volubilis had around 20,000 inhabitants – a very substantial population for a Roman provincial town – and the surrounding region was also well inhabited, to judge from over 50 villas discovered in the area. It was mentioned by the 1st century AD geographer Pomponius Mela, who described it in his work "De situ orbis libri III" as one of "the wealthiest cities, albeit the wealthiest among small ones" in Mauretania. It is also mentioned by Pliny the Elder, and the 2nd century Antonine Itinerary refers to its location and names it as "Volubilis Colonia". Its population was dominated by Romanised Berbers.
The city remained loyal to Rome despite a revolt in 40–44 AD led by one of Ptolemy's freedmen, Aedemon, and its inhabitants were rewarded with grants of citizenship and a ten-year exemption from taxes. The city was raised to the status of a "municipium" and its system of governance was overhauled, with the Punic-style "suffetes" replaced by annually elected "duumvirs", or pairs of magistrates. However, the city's position was always tenuous; it was located on the south-eastern edge of the province, facing hostile and increasingly powerful Berber tribes. A ring of five forts located at the modern hamlets of Aïn Schkor, Bled el Gaada, Sidi Moussa, Sidi Said and Bled Takourart (ancient Tocolosida) were constructed to bolster the city's defence. Sidi Said was the base for the Cohors IV Gallorum equitata, an auxiliary cavalry unit from Gaul, while Aïn Schkor housed Hispanic and Belgic cohorts. Sidi Moussa was the location of a cohort of Parthians, and Gallic and Syrian cavalry were based at Toscolosida. Rising tensions in the region near the end of the 2nd century led the emperor Marcus Aurelius to order the construction of a circuit of walls with eight gates and 40 towers. Volubilis was connected by road to Lixus and Tingis (capital city of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana, modern Tangier) but had no eastwards connections with the neighbouring province of Mauretania Caesariensis, as the territory of the Berber Baquates tribe lay in between. A Jewish community existed in Volubilis in the third century, as evident from several Hebrew, Greek and Latin funeral inscriptions and Menorah-shaped lamps. It is the most south-western location where ancient Hebrew inscription has been found.
Rome's control over the city ended following the chaos of the Crisis of the Third Century, when the empire nearly disintegrated as a series of generals seized and lost power through civil wars, palace coups and assassinations. Around 280, Roman rule collapsed in much of Mauretania and was never re-established. In 285, the emperor Diocletian reorganised what was left of the province to retain only the coastal strip between Lixus, Tingis and Septa (modern Ceuta). Although a Roman army was based in Tingis, it was decided that it would simply be too expensive to mount a reconquest of a vulnerable border region. Occupation of the city continued, however, as fine mosaics such as that of a chariot race conducted by animals in the House of Venus can not have been created earlier than the fourth century. The end of the Roman city probably came in the form of an earthquake towards the end of the century, which buried numerous bronze statues in the wreckage of the houses.
After the Romans.
Volubilis continued to be inhabited for centuries after the end of Roman control. It was certainly reoccupied by the Eastern Roman Empire in the sixth and seventh century, when three Christian inscriptions are dated by the provincial year. By the time the Arabs had arrived in 708, the city's name was changed to "Oualila" or "Walīlī", and it was inhabited by the Awraba, a Berber tribe that originated in Libya. Much of the city centre had been abandoned and was turned into a cemetery, while the centre of habitation had moved to the southwest of the city, where a new wall was built to contain the abridged Roman town.
Volubilis remained the capital of the region well into the Islamic period. Islamic coins dating to the 8th century have been found on the site, attesting to the arrival of Islam in this part of Morocco. They are concentrated outside the city walls, which suggests that Arab settlement remained distinct from the Berber settlement inside them. It was here that Moulay Idriss established the Idrisid dynasty of Morocco in 787-8. A direct descendant of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, he escaped to Morocco from Syria following the Battle of Fakhkh in 787. He was proclaimed "imam" in Volubilis, occupied by the Awraba, under Ishaq ibn Mohammad. He married Kanza, from the Awraba, and fathered a son, Idris II, who was proclaimed imam in Volubilis. He, too, lived outside the walls of the city, along the banks of the Wadi Khoumane, where a complex has recently been excavated that may be identified with his headquarters. Idriss I conquered most of Northern Morocco during the three years of his reign, founding the city of Fes. He was assassinated in Volubilis in 791 on the orders of the caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid. On his majority Idriss II removed to Fes which served as his new capital, depriving Volubilis of its last vestiges of political significance.
A Muslim group known as the Rabedis, who had revolted in Córdoba in Al-Andalus (Andalusia in modern Spain), resettled at Volubilis in 818. Although people continued to live in Volubilis for several more centuries, it was probably almost deserted by the 14th century. Leo Africanus describes its walls and gates, as well as the tomb of Idris, guarded only by two or three castles. His body was subsequently removed to Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, , where a great mausoleum was built for it. The name of the city was forgotten and it was termed "Ksar Faraoun", or the "Pharaoh's Castle", by the local people, alluding to a legend that the ancient Egyptians had built it. Nonetheless some of its buildings remained standing, albeit ruined, until as late as the 17th century when Moulay Ismail ransacked the site to provide building material for his new imperial capital at Meknes. The 1755 Lisbon earthquake caused further severe destruction. However, English antiquarian John Windus had sketched the site in 1722. In his 1725 book "A Journey to Mequinez", Windus described the scene:
Visiting 95 years later in 1820, after the Lisbon earthquake had flattened the few buildings left standing, James Gray Jackson wrote:
Walter Burton Harris, a writer for "The Times", visited Volubilis during his travels in Morocco between 1887–89, after the site had been identified by French archaeologists but before any serious excavations or restorations had begun. He wrote:
Excavation, restoration and UNESCO listing.
Much of Volubilis was excavated by the French during their rule over French Morocco between 1912 and 1955, but the excavations at the site began decades earlier. From 1830, when the French conquest of Algeria began the process of extending French rule over much of northern, western and central Africa, archaeology was closely associated with French colonialism. The French army undertook scientific explorations as early as the 1830s and by the 1850s it was fashionable for French army officers to investigate Roman remains during their leave and spare time. By the late 19th century French archaeologists were undertaking an intensive effort to uncover north-west Africa's pre-Islamic past through excavations and restorations of archaeological sites. The French had a very different conception of historic preservation to that of the Moroccan Muslims. As the historian Gwendolyn Wright puts it, "the Islamic sense of history and architecture found the concept of setting off monuments entirely foreign", which "gave the French proof of the conviction that only they could fully appreciate the Moroccan past and its beauty." Emile Pauty of the Institut des Hautes Études Marocaines criticised the Muslims for taking the view that "the passage of time is nothing" and charged them with "let[ting] their monuments fall into ruin with as much indifference as they once showed ardour in building them."
The French programme of excavation at Volubilis and other sites in French-controlled North Africa (in Algeria and Tunisia) had a strong ideological component. Archaeology at Roman sites was used as an instrument of colonialist policy, to make a connection between the ancient Roman past and the new "Latin" societies that the French were building in North Africa. The programme involved clearing modern structures built on ancient sites, excavating Roman towns and villas and reconstructing major civic structures such as triumphal arches. Ruined cities, such as Timgad in Algeria, were excavated and cleared on a massive scale. The remains were intended to serve, as one writer has put it, as "the witness to an impulse towards Romanization".
This theme resonated with other visitors to the site. The American writer Edith Wharton visited in 1920 and highlighted what she saw as the contrast between "two dominations look[ing] at each other across the valley", the ruins of Volubilis and "the conical white town of Moulay Idriss, the Sacred City of Morocco". She saw the dead city as representing "a system, an order, a social conception that still runs through all our modern ways." In contrast, she saw the still very much alive town of Moulay Idriss as "more dead and sucked back into an unintelligible past than any broken architrave of Greece or Rome." As Sarah Bird Wright of the University of Richmond puts it, Wharton saw Volubilis as a symbol of civilisation and Moulay Idriss as one of barbarism; the subtext is that "in ransacking the Roman outpost, Islam destroyed its only chance to build a civilised society". Fortunately for Morocco, "the political stability which France is helping them to acquire will at last give their higher qualities time for fruition"—very much the theme that the French colonial authorities wanted to get across. Hilaire Belloc, too, spoke of his impression being "rather one of history and of contrast. Here you see how completely the new religion of Islam flooded and drowned the classical and Christian tradition."
The first excavations at Volubilis were carried out by the French archaeologist Henri de la Martinière between 1887 and 1892. In 1915 Hubert Lyautey, the military governor of French Morocco, commissioned the French archaeologists Marcel and Jane Dieulafoy to carry out excavations in Volubilis. Although Jane's ill-health meant that they were unable to carry out the programme of work that they drew up for Lyautey, the work went ahead anyway under Louis Chatelain. The French archaeologists were assisted by thousands of German prisoners of war who had been captured during First World War and loaned to the excavators by Lyautey. The excavations continued on and off until 1941, when the Second World War forced a halt.
Following the war, excavations resumed under the French and Moroccan authorities (following Morocco's independence in 1955) and a programme of restoration and reconstruction began. The Arch of Caracalla had already been restored in 1930–34. It was followed by the Capitoline Temple in 1962, the basilica in 1965–67 and the Tingis Gate in 1967. A number of mosaics and houses underwent conservation and restoration in 1952–55. In recent years, one of the olive-oil production workshops in the southern end of the city has been restored and furnished with a replica Roman oil press. These restorations have not been without controversy; a review carried out for UNESCO in 1997 reported that "some of the reconstructions, such as those on the triumphal arch, the capitolium, and the oil-pressing workshop, are radical and at the limit of currently accepted practice."
From 2000 excavations carried out by University College London and the Moroccan Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine under the direction of Elizabeth Fentress, Gaetano Palumbo and Hassan Limane revealed what should probably be interpreted as the headquarters of Idris I just below the walls of the Roman town to the west of the ancient city centre. Excavations within the walls also revealed a section of the early medieval town. Today, many artefacts found at Volubilis can be seen on display in the Rabat Archaeological Museum.
UNESCO listed Volubilis as a World Heritage Site in 1997. In the 1980s, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) organised three conferences to assess possible nominations to the World Heritage List for sites in North Africa. It was unanimously agreed that Volubilis was a good candidate for the list and in 1997 ICOMOS recommended that it be inscribed as "an exceptionally well preserved example of a large Roman colonial town on the fringes of the Empire", which UNESCO accepted.
City layout and infrastructure.
Prior to the Roman occupation, Volubilis covered an area of about , built on a V-shaped ridge between the Fertassa and Khoumane wadis on a roughly north-south axis. It was developed on a fairly regular pattern typical of Phoenician/Carthaginian settlements and was enclosed by a set of walls. Under the Romans, the city was expanded considerably on a northeast-southwest axis, increasing in size to about . Most of the city's public buildings were constructed in the older part of the city. The grand houses for which Volubilis is famous are in the newer part, behind the Decumanus Maximus (main street), which bisected the Roman-era part of the city. The decumanus was paved, with footways on either side, and was lined with arcaded porticoes on either sides, behind which were dozens of shops. The Arch of Caracalla marks the point at which the old and new cities merge. After the aqueduct fell into disrepair with the end of the Roman occupation, a new residential area was constructed to the west near the Wadi Khoumane.
The city was supplied with water by an aqueduct that ran from a spring in the hills behind the city. The aqueduct may have been constructed around 60–80 AD and was subsequently reconstructed on several occasions. An elaborate network of channels fed houses and the public baths from the municipal supply and a series of drains carried sewage and waste away to the river to be flushed. The aqueduct ran under the Decumanus Secundus, a street that ran parallel with the Decumanus Maximus, and terminated at a large fountain in the city centre near the Arch of Caracalla.
Most of the original pre-Roman city wall was built over or destroyed, but a stretch of the original wall, which was made of mud bricks on a stone foundation, can still be seen near the tumulus. The Roman city walls stretch for and average thick. Built of rubble masonry and ashlar, they are mostly still extant. The full circuit of walls had 34 towers, spaced at intervals of about one every , and six main gates that were flanked by towers. A part of the eastern wall has been reconstructed to a height of . The Tingis Gate, also reconstructed, marks the northern-eastern entrance to Volubilis. It was constructed in 168/169 AD – the date is known due to the discovery of a coin of that year that was deliberately embedded in the gate's stonework by its builders.
An early medieval wall stands to the west of the Arch of Caracalla; it was built after the end of the Roman occupation, apparently some time in the 5th or 6th centuries, to protect the eastern side of the city's new residential area. It was oriented in a north-south direction and was constructed using stone looted from ruined buildings elsewhere in the abandoned areas of the city.
Commerce.
During Roman times, Volubilis was a major producer of olive oil. The remains of buildings dedicated to olive pressing are still readily visible, as are the remains of the original presses and olive mills. One such building has been reconstructed with a full-size replica of a Roman olive press. Olive oil was central to the life of the city, as it was not just a foodstuff but was also used for lamps, bathing and medicines, while the pressed olives were fed to animals or dried out and used as fuel for the bathhouses. For this reason, even some of the grandest mansions had their own olive presses. Fifty-eight oil-pressing complexes have so far been discovered in Volubilis. They housed a standard set of elements: a mill, used to crush the olives, a decantation basin to catch the oil from pressed olives, and a press that comprised a counterweight, a "prelum" or cross-bar and the wooden supports within which the "prelum" was fixed. The olives were first crushed into a paste, then put into woven baskets that were subjected to pressing. The olive oil ran out into the decantation basin, to which water was periodically added to make the lighter oil float to the surface. This was then scooped out of the basin and poured into amphorae. There is also substantial evidence of the city being a lively commercial centre. No fewer than 121 shops have been identified so far, many of them bakeries, and judging from the number of bronzes found at the site it may also have been a centre for the production or distribution of bronze artworks.
Notable buildings.
Although only about half of Volubilis has been excavated, a number of prominent public buildings are still visible and some, notably a basilica and a triumphal arch, have been reconstructed. Many private buildings, including the mansions of the city's elite, have also been uncovered. They are especially notable for the fine mosaics that have been discovered in a number of buildings and which are still "in situ" in the houses where they were laid. The buildings were mostly made from locally quarried grey-blue limestone. Very little remains of the original Punic settlement, as it lies under the later Roman buildings.
A large tumulus of uncertain origin and purpose stands approximately in the middle of the excavated area, between the old and new parts of the city. Various theories have been advanced to explain it, such as that it was a burial site, a religious structure of some kind, a funerary monument or a monument to a Roman victory. However, these remain unproven hypotheses.
Public buildings.
Two major public buildings are readily visible at the centre of the city – the basilica and the Capitoline Temple. The basilica was used for the administration of justice and the governance of the city. Completed during the reign of Macrinus in the early 3rd century, it is one of the finest Roman basilicas in Africa and is probably modelled on the one at Leptis Magna in Libya. The building is long by wide and originally had two storeys. Its interior is dominated by two rows of columns framing the apses at each end of the building where the magistrates sat. The outer wall of the basilica, which is faced with columns, overlooks the forum where markets were held. Small temples and public offices also lined the forum, which would have been full of statues of emperors and local dignitaries, of which only the pedestals now remain. Not much is known about the public buildings which existed in Volubilis prior to the start of the 3rd century, as the buildings currently visible were built on the foundations of earlier structures.
The Capitoline Temple stands behind the basilica within what would originally have been an arcaded courtyard. An altar stands in the courtyard in front of 13 steps leading up to the Corinthian-columned temple, which had a single cella. The building was of great importance to civic life as it was dedicated to the three chief divinities of the Roman state, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Civic assemblies were held in front of the temple to beseech the aid of the gods or to thank them for successes in major civic undertakings such as fighting wars. The layout of the temple, facing the back wall of the basilica, is somewhat unusual and it has been suggested that it may have been built on top of an existing shrine. An inscription found in 1924 records that it was reconstructed in 218. It was partly restored in 1955 and given a more substantial restoration in 1962, reconstructing 10 of the 13 steps, the walls of the cella and the columns. There were four more small shrines within the temple precinct, one of which was dedicated to Venus.
There were five other temples in the city, of which the most notable is the so-called "Temple of Saturn" that stood on the eastern side of Volubilis. It appears to have been built on top of, or converted from, an earlier Punic temple, which may have been dedicated to Baal. It is a sanctuary with a surrounding wall and a three-sided portico. In its interior was a small temple with a cella built on a shallow podium. The temple's traditional identification with Saturn is purely hypothetical and has not generally been accepted.
Volubilis also possessed at least three sets of public baths. Some mosaics can still be seen in the Baths of Gallienus, redecorated by that emperor in the 260s to become the city's most lavish baths. The nearby north baths were the largest in the city, covering an area of about . They were possibly built in the time of Hadrian.
Triumphal arch.
The Arch of Caracalla is one of Volubilis' most distinctive sights, situated at the end of the city's main street, the Decumanus Maximus. Although it is not architecturally outstanding, the triumphal arch forms a striking visual contrast with the smaller Tingis Gate at the far end of the decumanus. It was built in 217 by the city's governor, Marcus Aurelius Sebastenus, to honour the emperor Caracalla and his mother Julia Domna. Caracalla was himself a North African and had recently extended Roman citizenship to the inhabitants of Rome's provinces. However, by the time the arch was finished both Caracalla and Julia had been murdered by a usurper.
The arch is constructed from local stone and was originally topped by a bronze chariot pulled by six horses. Statues of nymphs poured water into carved marble basins at the foot of the arch. Caracalla and Julia Domna were represented on medallion busts, though these have been defaced. The monument was reconstructed by the French between 1930–34. However, the restoration is incomplete and of disputed accuracy. The inscription on the top of the arch was reconstructed from the fragments noticed by Windus in 1722, which had been scattered on the ground in front of the arch.
The inscription reads (after the abbreviations have been expanded):
IMPERATORI CAESARI MARCO AVRELLIO ANTONINO PIO FELICI AVGVSTO PARTHICO MAXIMO BRITTANICO MAXIMO GERMANICO MAXIMO
PONTIFICI MAXIMO TRIBVNITIA POTESTATE XX IMPERATORI IIII CONSVLI IIII PATRI PATRIAE PROCONSVLI ET IVLIAE AVGVSTAE PIAE FELICI MATRI
AVGVSTI ET CASTRORVM ET SENATVS ET PATRIAE RESPVBLICA VOLVBILITANORVM OB SINGVLAREM EIVS
ERGA VNIVERSOS ET NOVAM SVPRA OMNES RETRO PRINCIPES INDVLGENTIAM ARCVM
CVM SEIVGIBVS ET ORNAMENTIS OMNIBVS INCOHANTE ET DEDICANTE MARCO AVRELLIO
SEBASTENO PROCVRATORE AVGVSTI DEVOTISSIMO NVMINI EIVS A SOLO FACIENDVM CVRAVIT
or, in translation:
For the emperor Caesar, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus [Caracalla], the pious, fortunate Augustus, greatest victor in Parthia, greatest victor in Britain, greatest victor in Germany, "Pontifex Maximus", holding tribunician power for the twentieth time, Emperor for the fourth time, Consul for the fourth time, Father of the Country, Proconsul, and for Julia Augusta [Julia Domna], the pious, fortunate mother of the camp and the Senate and the country, because of his exceptional and new kindness towards all, which is greater than that of the "principes" that came before, the Republic of the Volubilitans took care to have this arch made from the ground up, including a chariot drawn by six horses and all the ornaments, with Marcus Aurelius Sebastenus, "procurator", who is most deeply devoted to the divinity of Augustus, initiating and dedicating it.
Houses and palaces.
The houses found at Volubilis range from richly decorated mansions to simple two-room mud-brick structures used by the city's poorer inhabitants. The city's considerable wealth is attested by the elaborate design of the houses of the wealthy, some of which have large mosaics still "in situ". They have been named by archaeologists after their principal mosaics (or other finds):
The same building was also the site of the discovery in 1918 of a bronze bust of outstanding quality depicting Cato the Younger. One of the most notable artefacts discovered at Volubilis, it is now on display in the Archaeological Museum in Rabat. It was still on its original pedestal when it was found by archaeologists. The bust has been dated to the time of Nero or Vespasian and may be a copy of a bust created in Cato's lifetime or shortly thereafter. Its inscription identifies its subject as the orator. Another outstanding bust, depicting a Hellenistic prince, was discovered in a bakery across the street. It seems to have been made at the same time as the Cato bust and may well have come from the House of Venus, where an empty pedestal in another room suggests that the Cato had a companion piece. The bust, which is also on display in Rabat, is usually identified as Juba II but other possibilities include Hiero II of Syracuse, Cleomenes III of Sparta, Juba I or Hannibal.
Headquarters of Idris I.
Just outside the walls of the city, on the floodplain of the Oued Khoumane, was found a series of interlocking courtyard buildings, of which the largest contained a hammam, or bath. This is an L-shaped structure, with a cold room paved with flagstones and benches running along the sides. At the end is found a plunge pool with three steps leading into it. From the cold room one moved to a vestibule at the corner of the building, decorated with a relief of a shield taken from the Arch of Caracalla. From there, one moved into the warm room, still covered by a vault, and finally into the hot room. The vault of this has now been restored, but it is possible to see the channels in the floor through which the hot air passed. Beyond this a furnace heated the room, as well as the hot water which would have flowed into basins in the corners. The courtyard of which this hammam formed the western limit was large, and contained numerous large silos for grain storage. To the south of this courtyard was one evidently designed for reception, with long narrow rooms to the east and west, one of which was painted red, with a low bench or divan at one end. Further south a third courtyard, only partially excavated, seems to have been devoted to domestic use. The plan, with its large courtyards and narrow rooms, is very different from the contemporary one or two-roomed structures inside the walls, probably inhabited by the Berbers of the Awraba tribe. It is dated by coins and pottery to the reign of Idris I, and has been identified as his headquarters.


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. 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. 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.
Career.
Early career.
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 (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.
Late career.
He assisted as an advisor in the campaign for his brother, Bingu wa Mutharika, for re-election as President in 2009. 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 also continued to serve as an adviser to the President until the President's death in 2012 in issues of foreign and domestic policy.
ICSID Arbitration Tribunal.
Mutharika was part of a three-man tribunal that was arbitrating international cases. 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.
Political life.
He is the President of DPP in Malawi. 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. 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".
DPP Factions.
In 2010, tensions rose over claims that President Bingu wa Mutharika's 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.
DPP Presidential Endorsement.
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.
US citizenship controversy.
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. 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.
2014 election.
Peter Mutharika was elected as President in the 2014 election. He was sworn in as President on 31 May 2014. Naming his cabinet in June 2014, Mutharika took charge of the defense portfolio himself. He appointed the veteran economist Goodall Gondwe as Minister of Finance and appointed one of the defeated presidential candidates, Atupele Muluzi, as Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining.
As of June 2014, he supported diversification of Malawi's agriculture into other crops besides tobacco.
His first term was marked by strong popular discontent, due to corruption, food shortages and power cuts. In 2018, thousands of people took to the streets in several cities across the country to denounce corruption scandals. Mutharika was accused of the involvement in a bribery case, suspected of having received more than $200,000 from a businessman who had obtained a multi-million dollar contract with the police. Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cleared Muthatika on the Malawi Police Service food rations contract allegations. The ACB stated that investigations into the Malawi Police Service (MPS) food rations contract have revealed that President Peter Mutharika did not personally benefit from $200,000 deposited in the Democratic Progressive Party's bank account.
2019 election.
On 21 May 2019, Malawi held elections to elect a new president, members of parliament, and local government councillors. Peter Mutharika was nominated and endorsed as the presidential candidate of the DPP. His main challenger was Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Saulos Chilima, who had been Mutharika's vice president since 2014, also put up a strong challenge against Mutharika since the two parted ways in April 2018. The election was marred with controversy and claims of rigging by Mutharika's DPP. In some districts such as Nsanje and Chikwawa in the southern end of Malawi, the Malawi Electoral Commission staff managing the polls were accused of swapping the presidential results for Chakwera to be for Mutharika. A district polling staff for Nsanje, Fred Thomas, was arrested for being found tampering with results sheets of the election. Similar issues of vote rigging and threatening of opposition political party monitors by the DPP were reported in other districts such as Zomba, Thyolo, Mulanje, Lilongwe and Nkhotakota. A lot of results sheets were also affected by tampering by "tippexing". Political thugs, thought to be from the DPP, got hold of results and changed figures by 'erasing' original figures by applying tippex (a brand of correction fluid). This led to the election to be known as "the Tippex Election", and the subsequent election of Mutharika as "the Tippex President". On 27 May 2019 and despite all the irregularities, the Malawi Electoral Commission Chairperson Supreme Court judge Justice Jane Ansah, announced Mutharika as the winner of the controversial elections with 1,940,709 votes against 1,781,740 for closest challenger Dr Lazarus Chakwera of the MCP. Saulos Chilima, who represented the UTM polled 1,018,369 votes. Mutharika was subsequently sworn in on 28 May 2019 for a new five-year term. The opposition MCP and UTM have then further applied to the High Court of Malawi to nullify the election results and conduct another election. Meanwhile, supporters of the opposition continued conducting demonstrations ever since against the conduct of the elections.
On 3 February 2020, the Constitutional Court judges arrived in Lilongwe court to give a long-awaited ruling on that disputed presidential election, travelling in a military vehicle under heavy police escort. The judges took turns to read the 500-page decision over more than seven hours. The Malawi Constitutional Court ruled to nullify the 21 May 2019 election, citing irregularities by the Malawi Electoral Commission. It further ordered fresh election to be conducted in 150 days. The nullification was unprecedented in Malawi, and only the second instance of such happening in Africa, the other being the Supreme Court of Kenya decision regarding the 2017 Kenyan presidential election.
2020 election.
Mutharika was defeated by Lazarus Chakwera in the 2020 election, having only obtained about 40% of the vote. Chakwera was sworn in as president of Malawi on 28 June 2020.
Anti-corruption investigations.
In August 2020, the Malawi Anti-Corruption Commission froze the bank accounts of Peter and his wife Gertrude, as a part of an anti-corruption investigation into the importation of K5 billion dollars' worth of cement free of taxes, a privilege for incumbent presidents in Malawi. In January 2021, the High Court dismissed Mutharika's application to lift the freeze on his accounts.
Personal life.
Mutharika has two daughters and a son from his first marriage. His first wife, Christophine, died while the children were young. She was a Catholic from the Caribbean.
Mutharika remained a widower for more than thirty years, but on 21 June 2014, he married Gertrude Maseko, a member of the Malawi Parliament.
Mutharika is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He is the younger brother of Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawi's third president.
Awards.
He is a recipient of the following awards;