Spokesperson for Former President Dr. Joyce Banda says she is failing to return to Malawi for fear of Political Persecution. Preferring to be in self-exile rather than come home and clear her name assuming that she would be arrested of some unknown crime at the moment.
Former President Joyce Banda’s special Assistant Andekuche Chanthunya, nephew to Banda disclosed this in an interview with the privately owned radio ZBS on Tuesday.
President Banda has been out of the country for about six months now and no one can really pinpoint which country she currently resides.
“I know the former President is being targeted for political persecution. This cannot be ruled out as a reason she is afraid of returning home,” said Chanthunya.
He said there is a systematic ploy by government to persecute Banda politically.
“It is true that she’s being persecuted. But it would not be true to say she is afraid to return home,” explained Chanthunya.
Last month, Oswald Lutepo, the prime suspect in the plundering of public funds at Capitol Hill implicated Joyce Banda in the financial scam. Lutepo said the main beneficiary of the looted money at Capitol Hill was former President.
Reacting to the news, People’s Party (PP) spokesperson Ken Msonda blasted the claims, saying President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika is conniving with Lutepo to implicate Banda in the scam, a move which government denied.
