Vice President Jane Ansah may not have directly questioned President Peter Mutharika’s leadership, but her account of being blocked from performing her official duties has done so by implication.
In an interview with Zodiak Broadcasting Station, Ansah maintained that she had a cordial relationship with Mutharika while saying some people around the president were preventing her from performing her official duties.
Ansah said she had not been invited to two Cabinet meetings, raising questions about her role in the administration and, more broadly, whether Mutharika is fully in control of decisions affecting his Vice President.
University of Malawi political scientist Boniface Dulani said the situation was difficult to reconcile with Ansah’s claim that she maintained a cordial relationship with the president.
“If the relationship between the President and his number two was indeed cordial, then no one would have the power to stand in between,” Dulani said.
He said Mutharika should have intervened if he was aware that Ansah was being excluded from Cabinet meetings.
“The President would have intervened when he realised that she is not in the Cabinet meeting. This raises questions about the President’s responsibility. If the President is not involved, he would not have tolerated the sidelining of Ansah,” Dulani said.
The concerns have been compounded by Mutharika’s decision to delegate Second Vice President Enoch Chihana to chair a Cabinet meeting, rather than Ansah.
The development raises questions about whether the president supports the decision to limit Ansah’s participation in Cabinet or whether he is unable to prevent others from doing so.
Ansah also indicated that some members of the governing Democratic Progressive Party have always been uncomfortable with her presence. She did not name any.
“I know them. I do not have to mention them” she told ZBS.
Her remarks appear to revive concerns Mutharika himself acknowledged when he presented his nomination papers in July 2025.
Speaking during presentation of nomination papers, Mutharika said he was aware that his choice had disappointed some within the party.
“For those who were left out, I want to say this: I can only select one person. I know some of you have said all sorts of things … that is not the right attitude, but let’s work together with Dr. Ansah and myself,” Mutharika said.
He went on to explain why he had selected Ansah.
“In picking a running mate, I wanted someone who is mature,” he said. “Somebody who has experience. Somebody who loves this country and also somebody who is God-fearing. You may not know this, Dr. Ansah is a bishop. Her husband is a bishop. She is God-fearing and a person of integrity.”
But Ansah’s recent account suggests that tensions surrounding her appointment may have persisted within the DPP.
Rather than directly accusing Mutharika of sidelining her, Ansah blamed Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi and others for preventing her from fully performing her duties.
Political scientist Makhumbo Munthali, however, disputed the focus on Saidi, arguing that the issue should be viewed in the context of the DPP’s inner workings and Mutharika’s role.
Speaking in a discussion monitored on the ZBS Views Triangle WhatsApp group, Munthali said:
“I see some of you blaming Saidi instead of the DPP inner circle. I am surprised with such reactions. You are blaming and targeting wrong people … this sidelining has full blessings of Mkulukutamoyo. He has not only given his blessings but in essence is 100 percent behind it,” Munthali said.
Last year, details of government expenditure on her private trip to the United Kingdom were leaked, placing the vice president under public scrutiny. By comparison, details of expenditure on four private trips by Mutharika have not been leaked, raising questions about whether Ansah has been subjected to a different level of scrutiny and whether the disclosure was part of a broader effort to discredit her.
For now, Ansah’s account has shifted the debate from speculation about tensions within the administration to questions about the president’s direct role in managing the relationship with his deputy and the wider government.
