‘Fake news’: DPP denies expelling VP Ansah as ruling party moves to tighten grip
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has branded as “fake” a statement circulating on social media claiming the party has expelled First Vice President Jane Ansah, dismissing the claims as “pathetic” propaganda, as the party intensified its internal restructuring drive during a high-level meeting in Blantyre.
DPP Secretary General Peter Mukhito used the gathering to directly address the swirling rumours, insisting the statement about Ansah’s alleged expulsion was entirely false and should be treated as such by the public and media alike.
The meeting itself was organised to confront growing concerns over discipline, unauthorised parallel structures, and the need for renewed organisational coherence in the Southern Region – the party’s traditional political heartland.
The gathering forms part of a broader effort by DPP leadership to consolidate the party’s internal machinery following its 16 September 2025 election victory, with officials acknowledging that the result has placed fresh pressure on the leadership to stabilise internal dynamics and strengthen regional command structures. Party insiders say the Southern Region remains central to that process, both because of its outsized electoral significance and because it has recently shown troubling signs of organisational drift.
Beyond addressing the Ansah rumours, Mukhito delivered one of the meeting’s most forceful messages, issuing a stark warning that the party will not tolerate members creating parallel structures or acting as unofficial political surrogates outside sanctioned channels.
‘I have information that some people are creating parallel structures. These people will face disciplinary action,’ Mukhito declared, in remarks that reflect mounting concern within the party’s top brass that informal, unauthorised networks are undermining central authority and complicating efforts to present a unified front following the election win.
DPP Vice President for the South Joseph Mwanamvekha reinforced the crackdown, warning that any official found bypassing established party protocol would be barred from addressing party meetings across the region – a clear signal of the leadership’s determination to reassert control and prevent further fragmentation within regional structures.
The meeting took a notably animated turn when Northern Region governor Christopher Mzomera Ngwira delivered a colourful metaphor that visibly energised the room, drawing loud applause from attendees.
‘Mbuzi ikabeleka imakadya msipu kuti iyamwitse ana ake. Ngati chipani sichikuyenda bwino nde kuti ndiife amene tili m’mipandofe. Chipani ndi anthu awa,’ Ngwira told the gathering – a message stressing that a party, like a nursing goat, must nourish itself from within if it hopes to sustain its future. Several participants responded enthusiastically with cries of ‘apo walasa,’ signalling the remarks had struck a genuine chord among members clearly frustrated by ongoing internal indiscipline.
The party’s current strategy appears to rest on three core pillars: tightening internal discipline by curbing unauthorised activities and reinforcing leadership authority; strengthening structural coherence to ensure regional and national organs operate in proper alignment; and pursuing post-election consolidation aimed at strengthening grassroots networks to sustain political momentum following last year’s victory.
The developments carry broader significance for Malawi’s wider political landscape, given the DPP’s status as one of the country’s dominant political forces. A more disciplined and internally unified party could meaningfully reshape political alliances, influence parliamentary dynamics, and recalibrate the nature of political competition ahead of future electoral cycles.
For now, the Blantyre meeting – punctuated by Ngwira’s rallying metaphor, Mukhito’s denial of the Ansah rumours, and his pointed disciplinary warnings – signals a party attempting a deliberate rebuild from within, beginning in the very region where its political roots run deepest, and where its internal contradictions have become most visible in recent months.
The swirling rumours over Ansah’s status within the party add to weeks of speculation surrounding the Vice President’s standing within government, following a string of incidents in which she has appeared visibly sidelined from official presidential duties, despite her constitutional standing as second-in-command.
