Fmr Malawi President Banda returns.

Former Malawi President Joyce is back home on Saturday after three years in self-imposed exile because of graft allegations.

Cashgate, a corruption scandal in which senior government officials siphoned millions of dollars from the state coffers, was uncovered in 2013, while she was president. Donor  countries then cut off aid, which affected development in Malawi, one of the world’s poorest and most aid-dependent countries.

Banda, Malawi’s first female president, lost elections to Peter Mutharika a year later due to allegations of abuse of office and money laundering, which she denied.

Last July, police issued an arrest warrant against Banda, citing Cashgate scandal. But early this year, the Anti-Corruption Bureau said it had no concrete evidence against her.

A former justice minister and attorney general were convicted over Cashgate, along with a number of former high-ranking government officials and business people.

Banda has been living in the United States, serving as a distinguished fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Center for Global Development in Washington DC.

Courtesy of Reuters News