LILONGWE - Malawian Vice-President Joyce Banda took over the running of the southern African nation on Saturday after the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, and fears of a succession struggle receded as state institutions backed the constitutional handover. The government only officially confirmed 78-year-old Mutharika's death earlier on Saturday, two days after he had died following a heart attack. His body had been flown to a military hospital in South Africa. The delay in the announcement had raised worries about a political crisis because Banda had been expelled from Mutharika's ruling DPP party in 2010 after an argument about the succession, though she retained her state position. Banda, 61, who will be southern Africa's first female head of state, appeared at a news conference in the capital Lilongwe to declare 10 days of official mourning for Mutharika, who had ruled for eight years. She ordered national flags to be flown at half-mast and the state broadcaster to play sombre music. "I call upon all Malawians to remain calm and to keep the peace during this time of bereavement," Banda said, flanked by members of the cabinet, the attorney general and the heads of the army and the police.
