Both the ALP and Mr Spencer's United Progressive Party (UPP) have had dealings with Sir Allen.

ECONOMIST: The Stanford affair

Mutharika was elected under the former president's United Democratic Front Party in 2004, but left it soon after and formed the Democratic Progressive Party.

CNN: Malawi's Mutharika wins second term

She quit the paternal United Party in 1959, frustrated that it was so wobbly against apartheid, to join a Progressive Party of 12 members that was wiped out in an election two years later.

ECONOMIST: Helen Suzman | The