JB returns home Saturday

Former president Joyce Banda will return home on Saturday to end her self-imposed four-year political exile.

According to Banda’s spokesperson Andekuche Chanthunya, the former leader who is also People’s Party president, is expected to hold a mass rally on Sunday in Blantyre.

He said Banda will immediately resume her role as head of PP and hinted on the possibility of her running in the 2019 elections.

Said  Chanthunya: “We will hear what are her thoughts on Sunday when she addresses a political rally but what we know is that she remains the head of the PP and as PP president she can contest for the presidency.

“The question of whether she wants to contest for the presidency or not will be answered in due course, but we may get an idea of how she is thinking when she addresses the rally. But the general principle is that the PP convention will decide on who is going to be its presidential candidate.”

But in an interview yesterday, political analyst Henry Chingaipe raised doubts about the impact of Banda in next year’s polls.

“If she is coming home just to be at home then well that’s good enough. But if she is coming to contest for the presidency, it might be a sign that she is being misled. Her party is in tatters. The decision to leave the country for so long eroded trust of Malawians in her leadership,” he said.

The return of Banda has been previously announced and halted but Chanthunya yesterday assured the public that the former president will return home.

Last year, Banda reportedly cancelled her return home hours after the police issued a warrant of her arrest.

Banda made history by becoming Malawi’s first female president and only the second woman to lead a country in Africa.

She took power in April 2012 following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, who headed the country since 2004.