Malawi ex-president, Joyce Banda, wanted by police over $250m corruption case

A Malawian court has granted the police a warrant of arrest in respect of the country’s former president, Joyce Banda.

According to a police statement tweeted by a journalist in the country, the order is in respect of a corruption scandal that took place during her tenure as president.

“The Malawi police wishes to inform Malawians that its Fiscal and Fraud Section conducted some investigations on the suspected involvement of the Former President in ‘cashgate’ cases and unearthed credible evidence.

The evidence gathered raises reasonable suspicion that the Former President committed offences relating to abuse of office and money laundering.

“The evidence gathered raises reasonable suspicion that the Former President committed offences relating to abuse of office and money laundering,” the statement added.

The case in question, the ‘cashgate’ saga, is on record as the country’s biggest financial scandal. It is said to have involved loss of about $250 million.

Malawi police are said to have asked for INTERPOL’s assistance in arresting Mrs Banda who is currently out of the country. She has yet to comment on the arrest warrant.

The 67-year-old served as the country’s president between April 2012 to May 2014. She is founder and leader of the People’s Party which was established in 2011. She had previously served as vice-president to late president Bingu wa Mutharika.

She took over power after her boss died in office but she heavily lost 2014 elections to incumbent Peter Mutharika.