With just over a month to Malawi’s high-stakes 16 September polls, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential running mate, Justice Dr. Jane Mayemu Ansah — a trusted lieutenant of Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika — has hit the campaign trail with a fiery message and a promise of “proven leadership.”
Ansah in Mwanza
On Monday, Ansah swept through Thyolo in a show of grassroots muscle. By Tuesday, she had taken Mwanza by storm, pulling large, animated crowds at Inkosini Kanduku, Thambani, and Mwanza Boma.
Unveiled only last month as Mutharika’s running mate, Ansah declared it “a great privilege to serve Malawians at this critical time,” before unleashing a stinging critique of President Lazarus Chakwera’s administration.
“Prices of basic goods and services have skyrocketed. Foreign exchange is a nightmare. Fuel shortages are now part of our daily vocabulary. These are the direct consequences of policies that are hostile to Malawians,” she charged, drawing loud cheers from the gathered supporters.
Campaigning under the DPP’s rallying cry — Return to Proven Leadership — Ansah vowed a full-scale economic recovery, robust governance reforms, and rural development that “puts the forgotten majority first.”
She told the crowds that Malawians were “yearning for Mutharika’s return,” citing his track record of delivering results. Her claims echo the latest Afrobarometer survey, which projects Mutharika as the frontrunner in the September race, riding on nostalgia for his past leadership.
The DPP says this is only the beginning. Today, Ansah takes the battle to the Lower Shire for another round of whistle-stop rallies, with the party expecting “even bigger turnouts and louder voices” in what they’re calling the “countdown to victory.”
