CLAIM
President Peter Mutharika has claimed that his brother, late Bingu wa Mutharika, did not trust Joyce Banda. In whistle-stops in the Southern region, Mutharika claimed that despite being a foreign affairs minister, Bingu wa Mutharika did not involve Joyce Banda in negotiating a new relationship with China switching from Taiwan. Mutharika also said in 2018 that his brother confided in him before death that he regretted picking Banda as a running mate.
CONCLUSION
The dead cannot speak. However, Bingu wa Mutharika seemed to treat Joyce Banda with mistrust and settling for her was more out of political convenience than her political abilities.
- Bingu wa Mutharika chose Joyce Banda as his running mate for the 2009 poll in which Mutharika was seeking his second and last term
- In negotiating the terms of the China-Malawi relationship in December 2007, records indicate that Banda was not really involved and did not travel with the team to China despite that she made the announcement in January 2008 in her capacity as foreign affairs minister
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