Joyce Banda declares interest in 2019 presidential election

Former Malawi President Joyce Banda, who recently returned from a four-year voluntary exile, announced on Monday her decision to seek her party’s nomination for next year’s presidential election.

“I will be a candidate for the convention” of the Popular Party (PP, opposition), Banda told AFP.

“The people have the power to choose their flag bearer and I was very clear in inviting all those who wanted to apply for the convention.If they choose me, then yes I will be a candidate”, she added.

The date of the People’s Party Congress, of which Ms Banda has remained President, has not yet been decided.

The first woman to head Malawi, Mrs. Banda, 68, left her country in 2014 after her defeat in the presidential election.

She was accused of presiding over the the “Cashgate” scandal case.

This scandal erupted in 2013, when she was president. An international audit revealed that $ 30 million had been siphoned off the country’s coffers for the benefit of dozens of government officials, businessmen and political leaders.

As part of this case, the police issued an arrest warrant in 2017 against Joyce Banda.

The former head of the state returned home in late April but was not worried by the authorities. She denied any involvement in the case, denouncing “political” accusations.

Thousands of people marched in April in several cities of this small, poor country in southern Africa to protest against corruption, the first anti-government protests since 2011.

AFP