Clinton visit helps to cement future links with Malawi

US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton visited Malawi yesterday to congratulate its new president for pulling her impoverished country back from the economic brink after a political crisis.

Mrs Clinton, who is on an African tour, landed in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe and headed directly to a meeting with president Joyce Banda, a veteran women’s rights campaigner, who had been the country’s vice president and moved into the top job in April after the death of her erratic predecessor Bingu wa Mutharika.

American officials said Mrs Clinton’s five-hour visit – the first ever by a US Secretary of State to the southern African country – was a vote of confidence in Banda, who has moved swiftly to woo back international donors after years of damaging mismanagement.

“President Banda had made critical reforms that are already improving lives and spurring economic recovery,” Mrs Clinton said after meeting the 62-year-old leader, one of only two female heads of state in 
Africa.