Joyce Banda back in Malawi, upbeat to rebuild PP
Former Malawi president Joyce Banda on Saturday returned home from the US where she went on a two months holiday and was given a warm welcome by supporters of her People’s Party (PP).
Banda jetted in through Chileka International Airport in Blantyre at 11AM and was flanked by her husband Retired Chief Justice Richard Banda.
The former president’s media liaison officer Tusekele Mwanyongo said Banda called on her party followers to stay the course in order to rebuild the party.
“The former president encouraged PP followers that the party still has the majority to claim another space in the country’s politics,” said Mwanyongo.
Mwanyongo said Banda will steer PP into a rebuilding process and will be calling for the national executive committee to chart a new way forward for the party,
Banda had a busy month in the United States, taking the message of the Joyce Banda Foundation, a social initiative that she has been spearheading in Malawi for the last 16 years, to the world.
She met with several high-level dignitaries while in the US including Hillary Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
On her way back she stopped in South Africa where she had a meeting with South Africa’s Graca Machel for a maternal and child health program, as also meetings with “interested parties and friends” who want to support her foundation and improve the services it provides to women and children.
Banda told New African magazine that her mission in life is “to assist women and youth gain social and political empowerment through business.”
“We need to do more. For me, empowering women and achieving gender equality is my goal, not only in Malawi but across Africa. That’s what brings me to South Africa,” added Banda.
