The family of retired politician and neurologist George Nga Mtafu said on Wednesday it was yet to decide on the burial date for Mtafu who died on Tuesday after sustaining injuries in a road accident in Blantyre.
Wednesday evening, a representative of the family, who only identified himself as Mr Kalonga, said the family was considering Friday, but this was yet to be confirmed as they were still meeting for burial arrangements.
Ministry of Health (MoH) spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe, where the late Mtafu was serving as chief technical adviser, in an interview earlier on Wednesday, said the funeral programme was also awaiting Mtafu’s widow, Elvy, a commissioner at Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) who was in Egypt at the time of the death.
He said: “His wife is travelling back today [Wednesday] from Egypt where she went on official duty.”
Mtafu died at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre after sustaining injuries in a road accident he was involved in.
According to Southern Region Police deputy spokesperson Widson Nhlane, the accident happened around noon when Mtafu’s vehicle, a Nissan March, coming from Kameza going towards Chileka Airport side, collided with a MoH lorry which was coming from a side road driving into the main Chileka Road.
Born on Likoma Island on September 27 1949, Mtafu was trained as a neurosurgeon in Germany and returned home in the 1980s and was based at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre.
As a politician, Mtafu served in several Cabinet portfolios during the United Democratic Front (UDF) administration and became Member of Parliament (MP) for Likoma in 2004, but did not retain the seat in the 2009 elections. n
