Ansah vowed to resign if appeal fails: Now MEC chair must go

Embattled Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Jane Ansah vowed that she will quit if the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal upholds the February 3 2020 Constitutional Court judgement that nullified the May 21 2019 presidential election for massive irregularities and that the appeal has been dismissed on Friday May 8 2020 in its entirety, the honourable thing for her is abdicate her office now.

In February, Ansah told Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee (PAC) inquiry at Parliament Building in Lilongwe, that there was no reason to tender her resignation because she was in denial that she presided  elections that were not credible.

Ansah, a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, told the inquiry that she would not step down if the MEC appeal against the decision of the five-judge panel of the High Court of Malawi sitting as the Constitutional Court that nullified the election and ordered a fresh election within 150 days from February 3 will be maintained by the Supreme Court which would be final ruling.

She committed to resign if appeal fails, she said it forcefully.

But the Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday led by Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda upheld the ConCourt judgement of February 3, 2020 that May 2019 elections had irregularities and that President Peter Mutharika was not duly elected.

In the appeal Mutharika was the first appellant with MEC as the second appellant.

Now that Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal, Ansah is expected to do the needful and resign.

Presidential hopeful for Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Lazarus Chakwera said after the court ruling that Ansah and her cohorts of commissioners must go.

“If they have any sense of integrity at all, unless they are living in denial; they have to put their tools down today,” said Chakwera to reporters outside court in Lilongwe.

Parliament already recommended that Ansah should be fired together with other commissioners, Mary Nkosi, Elvey Mtafu, Moffat Banda, Yahaya M’madi, Linda Kunje ,  Jean Mathanga, the Reverent Clifford Baloyi and the Reverend Killion Mgawi.

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