JB says she is not afraid
Former president Joyce Banda yesterday challenged authorities and her political adversaries that she is not afraid of anything and is prepared to face whatever comes her way.
Banda, the president of People’s Party (PP) booted out of government during the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections after a two-year stint, told a rally at Kanengo in Lilongwe she was back in the country to stay after a four-year self-imposed exile.
In her Chichewa address, she said: “Ku Malawi ndabwera chonse ndipo chondifikila chindifikile [I am here to stay and ready to face whatever comes my way].”
During her absence, Malawi Police Service (MPS) last August said it had obtained a warrant of arrest for Banda for her alleged role in Cashgate—the plunder of resources at Capital Hill exposed under her watch in September 2013.
But in her first public rally in Zomba on April 29 this year, a day after her return, Banda distanced herself from Cashgate and claimed both the International Police (Interpol) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cleared her.
However, ACB director general Reyneck Matemba denied clearing the former president, saying investigations were still in progress.
During the brief stop at Kanengo yesterday, Banda, who rose to the presidency on April 7 2012 in line with constitutional order following the death of president Bingu wa Mutharika, said she was disappointed with the situation she found in the country after living abroad for four years.
She said she had observed that poverty levels were still high as evidenced by existence of grass thatched houses, saying: “Upon my arrival I was disappointed to see that there are still grass thatched houses in the country.”
Speaking through the sunroof opening of her vehicle, Banda waived at hundreds of people who thronged her vehicle to have a glimpse and hear what she had to say.
The people, who were mostly clad in PP’s orange colours, were seen waiting by the roadside from mid-morning only to see their leader around 5pm.
MPS said it notified Interpol member States about the existence of the warrant of arrest. However, it later transpired Interpol was not aware of the said warrant of arrest.
In 2013, the shooting of former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo outside the gate of his Area 43 residence in Lilongwe led to revelations of the plunder of public resources at Capital Hill.
Banda ordered an audit which British firm, Baker Tilly, undertook covering a randomly selected six-month period between April and September 2013. The audit established that about K24 billion was siphoned from public coffers through dubious payments, inflated invoices and goods or services never rendered.
In May 2015, a financial analysis report by audit and business advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) also established that about K577 billion in public funds could not be reconciliated between 2009 and December 31 2014. The K577 billion figure was later revised downwards to K236 billion in another forensic audit released in 2016. n
