President Joyce Banda, Malawi's first woman president and Africa's second after Liberia's Eileen Sirleef, is facing multiple challenges to her less than 15 months trail to maintaining her political leadership in the impoverished landlocked Southern Africa country, Malawi.

New allegations have emerged Banda's administration tried to bribe consumer and rights activist, John Kapito, with MK6 million to call off the demonstrations that took place on 17th January, 2013. She may have to bank on the fact that not many Malawians turned up for the protests, that were dogged by embarrassing and last minute withdrawals by some of the key organisers.

Kapito said he can not be bought by such an amount of money on the expense of millions of Malawians that are suffering due to the country's troubled economic base, following devaluation of the Kwacha by about 50% against the US dollar imposed by the world finance body, the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

However minister of information and civic education, Moses Kunkuyu, has said there was no such task-force or team set up to buy off protest organisers, and in the same breadth hailed the demonstrations for being peaceful.

In 2011 on July 19/20, about 20 people lost their lives as Malawians turned out in thousands in all the major cities of the country and some districts, to protest against Banda's predecessor, the late Bingu wa Mutharika's seemingly growing autocratic tendencies and the fast sloping economic base.

Mutharika's regime left a country that faced multiple problems from what others have termed adamant on the part of the leadership to devalue the Kwacha on time and also poor and unpopular government policies that led to Malawians suffering.

The country experienced acute shortages of fuel, forex, drugs and most basic commodities rose in prices on the market in short spates of time. Banda's regime, however, is trying its best to revert the situation.

Through new austerity measures, including the highly touted Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) which minister of economic affairs, Goodall Gondwe, says has a five-year-term to change the economic malaise, the Banda administration has brought back fuel in the pumps and forex is slowly starting to stabilize.

Despite the glimpse of hope, basic commodities have continued to sour, influenced by the newly adopted Floatation of the Kwacha Policy, which the Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA) boss, Kapito, and most Malawians blame for most of the recurrent problems facing the ordinary citizen.

Currently, somehow related to the economic dog-pound, the public health facilities have experienced a drug drought leading to some Malawians dying from easily treatable diseases.

On Monday the 4th February on her return from Korea where she also drummed up support for her ailing economy and the drug situation, Banda went straight into meetings with health and some line civil society organisation leaders in a bid to find solutions to the drug challenge.

People have had to be turned back from hospitals and clinics to purchase drugs from vendors, which have become even more expensive and hard to afford for many.

With the 15 months to go, Banda has the Kapito January 17th petition that details 6 points to deal with and a looming public servants strike led by the Malawi Council of Trade Unions (MCTU) if salary increments are not approved and effected soonest.

The petition, with an ultimatum deadline for response set at February 15th, demands, a 21 days period grace, demands that

Banda also has the challenge of disposing off of her presidential jet, which is already up for sale and bidders have been invited; reduction of her presidential convoy; reduction of her local and foreign trips; and boarding off of ministerial Mercedes Benz vehicles, which Kunkuyu said government is already doing to appease the petition.

Kunkuyu, however, says the issue of public servants' salary increments is a broader and more complex issue that can not take overnight to sort out.

Sources also allege government palm-oiled other civil society, youth, and religious leaders to call for the cancellation of the demonstrations, which Kunkuyu again brushes off as baseless.

President Mrs. Banda may have already received numerous awards and recognitions internationally, including latest the doctorate of economics (Honoris Causa) from the Korean University of Jeonju in recognition for her efforts to revive the ailing economy and her impeccable service to humanity, he challenges remain subtle.

The doctorate, and the numerous awards, however, will not be enough to rescue her from the daggers that are fast being drawn by the Malawi populace due to the every rising sting of the economy.

She and her party, the Peoples Party, will have to find lasting solutions or any that can start to abet the suffering. And the time is running out on her road to 2014 tripartite elections - faced by hopeless and sick, angry and hungry voters!