MONDAY, 4.30PM
NONOGENARIAN former Malawian president Hastings Kamuzu Banda on Sunday announced his retirement from politics.
The move is largely symbolic, as Banda, who is believed to have been senile for years, has not played an active role in politics since he relinquished power in the country’s first multiparty elections in 1994. Since then he has remained symbolic head of the opposition Malawi Congress Party that he founded 40 years ago.
Banda told the MCP’s annual convention that he was stepping down due to advanced age and ill health. “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the people of Malawi. My house will remain open to them.”
Banda was tried and acquitted in 1995 for the murder in 1983 of four dissident politicians, and the present government last month announced its intention to appeal the verdict. Banda was excused attendance at the trial due to his health and senility.