FINANCE Minister Goodall Gondwe was on Friday pushed on a wheel chair from a check in point to a boarding lounge at OR Tambo Airport in South Africa as age is now catching up with the minister.
He was the centre of attraction, especially among Malawians, as the man at the centre of Malawi’s economy was being wheeled to catch a flight back home.
People who saw him at the airport say they were surprised to see the 81-year-old minister looking healthy but on a wheel chair.
In a brief interview Saturday afternoon, Gondwe confirmed he was wheeled at the airport because of a recurrent backache.
“I have had two operations on my back; so, yes, I had the backache again yesterday,” he said.
His illness comes at a time when the economy is bouncing back to good health with inflation coming down to 16 percent from 23 percent and after a cut in base lending rate, though marginal.
Gondwe could not say if he was in South Africa for medical treatment for the back problem but said he was now feeling better as of Saturday afternoon.
Gondwe was born on December 1 1936 and was first picked as Finance Minister in 2004 soon after former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika was voted into power on a United Democratic Front ticket before he formed his own Democratic Progressive Party a year later.
Prior to his appointment, Gondwe was an economic advisor to former President Bakili Muluzi.
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