Muluzi pays tribute to Aleke posthumously: ‘ Malawi govt should honour AKB’

Former president Bakili Muluzi on Saturday paid tributes to one of his former ministers Aleke Kadonaphani Banda, popularly known as AKB, saying  he remembers him for, among others, his unwavering efforts to bring about change in the country’s politics.

Muluzi was speaking as a ceremony which  family members, friends and colleagues gathered at Chirimba in Blantyre to unveil AKB tombstone. Aleke  died on April 9 in 2010.

Said Muluzi: “Aleke Banda was one of the few great men I have ever worked with. He was very intelligent. We are supposed to name something, such as a road after him, to appreciate his work”.

Muluzi expressed worry that nine years down the line, government has not yet honoured AKB as his younger brother Dikani Banda, who represented the family, said AKB is one of the country’s heroes government ought to honour.

“This man deserves to be honoured. As a family, we have done our part by honouring him. We have named one of the roads in the village [Tukombo in Nkhata Bay] ‘Kadonaphani Avenue’ to appreciate the great work he did to our family and the nation as whole,” he said.

Mama Kadzamira also hailed Aleke as one of the three best people she had worked with during the late Kamuzu Banda’s regime.

While Minister of Information  Henry Musa, who is also government spokesperson, described AKB as a very patriotic citizen who wished his country well.

The deceased’s first-born son, Masankho Banda, remembered his father as one of those prophets whose prophecies have been fulfilled.