Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) has appealed to President Peter Mutharika to restore responsibilities to First Vice-President Jane Ansah because perceived tensions within the Presidency risk undermining public confidence, governance and effective leadership.
The consumer rights watchdog’s executive director John Kapito said in a statement issued on Tuesday evening that the treatment of the Office of the First Vice-President has raised constitutional concerns.
on November 9. | Nation
He said the vice-presidency was not a favour bestowed by the President, but a constitutional office established under Section 79 of the Constitution as the President and Vice-President are voted for by the electorate.
“Widespread poverty, economic hardship and shortages of essential medicines require unity and cooperation at the highest levels of government, rather than public disagreements between the two offices,” said Kapito.
He urged Mutharika to take the initiative in resolving any differences with Ansah, arguing that personal disagreements should not interfere with the mandate entrusted to them by Malawians.
Kapito recalled that the marginalisation of Vice-Pesidents has been a recurring source of political tension in Malawi, citing the experiences of former office-bearers Justin Malewezi, Cassim Chilumpha, Joyce Banda, Khumbo Kachali and the late Saulos Chilima.
In an earlier interview, lawyer and human rights activist Seodi White said that excluding Ansah from Cabinet meetings when she was available to attend, raises constitutional questions.
She argued that Section 92(1) of the Constitution makes the First Vice-President a member of Cabinet, meaning her participation was not dependent on an invitation from the President.
However, private practice lawyer Benedicto Kondowe said while Section 79 establishes the Office of the First Vice-President, its mandate includes helping the President and exercising functions conferred by the Constitution, legislation or the President.
When asked to comment, Mutharika’s spokesperson Cathy Maulidi requested more time before responding.
In January this year, four months after her election Ansah saw key functions previously under her supervision transferred to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), slightly more than four months after her election.
During a September 14 2026 interview with Zodiak Broadcasting Station television, the estranged Ansah opened up on her relationship with the President, saying it remained cordial but some officials in the governing elite sidelin her.
Mutharika on July 25 2025 picked Ansah, a former Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson who presided over his court-annulled 2019 re-election, as his running mate for the September 16 2025 General Election. Ansah was seen as a surprise choice as she does not hold a position in the DPP national executive committee.
However, Mutharika is no stranger to picking perceived party outsiders as his running mates as he did the same in 2014 when he picked the then Airtel Malawi managing director Saulos Chilima.
