MALAWI: President Joyce Banda holds her final campaign rally in her home town of Songani ahead of the country's parliamentary and presidential elections on May 20

Record ID: 214682

  • Title: MALAWI: President Joyce Banda holds her final campaign rally in her home town of Songani ahead of the country's parliamentary and presidential elections on May 20
  • Date: 17th May 2014
  • Summary: SONGANI, MALAWI (MAY 17, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CAMPAIGN BANNER OF PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI, JOYCE BANDA BUTCHER WITH BANDA CAMPAIGN POSTER HANGING IN SHOP VARIOUS OF BANDA SUPPORTERS SINGING CAMPAIGN SONGS AND DANCING WOMEN SINGING AND WAVING BANDA FLAG VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS SINGING AND DANCING AS BANDA CAMPAIGN BUS ARRIVES CAR DRIVING THROUGH CROWD OF SUP
  • Embargoed: 1st June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Malawi
  • Country: Malawi
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACPRJ7G4FLSVG5P2MP4DFJLR4X
  • Story Text: Malawi President Joyce Banda held her final campaign rally in her home town of Songani, some 80 kilometres north of Blantyre on Saturday (May 17), ahead of the country's parliamentary and presidential elections on May 20.
    Banda took over the top job following the sudden death of Bingu wa Mutharika and described her two year term as head of the south African state as successful.
    She listed the uncovering of the so-called "cash-gate" scandal last year and the arrest of people who swindled government funds as her best achievements.
    The "cash-gate" scandal forced the government to shut down its payment system so that it could investigate over $4 million that went missing, delaying the payment of salaries to teachers, nurses and doctors.
    But Banda says not everyone is happy with her campaign to stamp out corruption.
    "I came in and I decided that I had to choose between my career and my people and I chose the people of Malawi. And I realised that seven months, and I was advised that seven months before elections was too short for me to tackle corruption because the people that are benefiting from it they will fight you back, they will smear it onto you, they'll bring you down, you may never get up. I said yes, I don't have a choice. I have to choose my people, I have to choose Malawians," she told reporters at the rally.
    Banda said if she loses the election, she hopes whoever wins will continue the fight against corruption.
    "Even if I lose the elections, somebody who comes who has to heed the call of Malawians that enough is enough."
    Official campaignearly on Sunday (May 18).
    Banda, Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progress Party and Malawi Congress Party's Lazarus Chakwera all have a fighting chance to win the election according to opinion polls.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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