CDEDI’s Namiwa alleges First Lady behind rift between Mutharika and VP Ansah

Sylvester Namiwa, executive director of the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI), has claimed that First Lady Gertrude Mutharika is behind the deteriorating relationship between President Peter Mutharika and his deputy, Vice-President Jane Ansah.

Namiwa said he was not afraid of being intimidated over the claim, declaring that whether the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wished to “kill” him or assault him, he would not back down from his position.

It should be noted that Namiwa’s allegation regarding the First Lady’s role has not been independently verified, and neither Gertrude Mutharika nor the Office of the President and Cabinet has commented publicly on the claim.

The allegation comes against the backdrop of months of reporting and speculation over Ansah’s diminishing role in government.

Since the start of the year, Ansah has been stripped of key portfolios, including disaster management affairs and public sector reforms, both of which were transferred to the Office of the President and Cabinet.

She has also been repeatedly bypassed for high-profile assignments — including representing the president at regional summits and national ceremonies — duties that have instead gone to Second Vice-President Enock Chihana or to cabinet ministers.

The Office of the President and Cabinet has previously dismissed suggestions that Ansah is being deliberately sidelined, with chief secretary Justin Saidi describing such claims in March as “false, baseless and deliberately misleading,” and OPC spokesperson Focus Maganga arguing that the vice-presidency is “by its nature” a delegated office.

Government officials have pointed to Section 89(6) of the constitution, which grants the president discretion to delegate responsibilities as he sees fit.

Critics and governance analysts, however, have drawn comparisons with the treatment of former vice-president Saulos Chilima, who complained for years of being marginalised under Mutharika’s first term before eventually breaking from the DPP altogether.

Namiwa’s latest remarks add a new dimension to that narrative, pointing to an alleged personal rather than purely political source of the tension — a claim likely to intensify scrutiny of the relationship between the presidency and the vice-president’s office ahead of further political manoeuvring within the DPP.