Malawi Cabinet meeting ‘unconstitutional’, warns lawyer Seodi
A leading constitutional lawyer has dropped a legal bombshell, warning that President Peter Mutharika broke the law by allowing Second Vice President Enoch Chihana to chair a Cabinet meeting while First Vice President Jane Ansah was reportedly available — and that any decisions made could now be torn up in court.
In a detailed legal opinion released on Monday, lawyer Seodi White accused the President of violating Section 92(3) of the Constitution, insisting the supreme law of the land leaves zero wiggle room for bypassing the First Vice President in favour of her deputy when she is available to attend.
“The chairing of a Cabinet meeting by the Second Vice-President, by presidential delegation, while the First Vice-President is present and available, constitutes a breach of Section 92(3) of the Constitution,” White declared bluntly.
The explosive legal opinion lands amid growing controversy over Monday’s Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Chihana while Mutharika himself was reportedly in Blantyre.
Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi has defended the arrangement, insisting the President holds the constitutional power to delegate either Vice President to chair Cabinet — though he admitted he had no idea why Ansah herself didn’t attend.
But White isn’t buying it.
The lawyer argues that while Section 89(6) does allow the President to delegate certain executive powers, that provision simply cannot be used to sidestep the specific constitutional rules governing who is entitled to chair Cabinet meetings.
“Section 92(3) is not a delegation provision—it is a specific constitutional rule that prescribes who presides over Cabinet meetings,” he insisted.
According to White, the Constitution sets out a rigid pecking order: the President chairs Cabinet as standard; if he’s temporarily unavailable, the First Vice President steps in; and only when BOTH the President and First Vice President are absent can the Second Vice President take the reins.
“There is no scenario in which the Second Vice-President may preside while the First Vice-President is present and available, whether by delegation or otherwise,” he said firmly.
White went further still, arguing Ansah simply cannot be lawfully frozen out of Cabinet in the first place, insisting her membership is guaranteed directly by the Constitution itself — not something handed to her at the President’s whim.
“The First Vice-President is not merely an invitee—her membership is prescribed by the supreme law of the land,” he argued.
The constitutional expert made clear that, provided Ansah was in the country, not incapacitated, and had not vacated her office, there was simply no legal justification for excluding her from the meeting whatsoever.
White also dismissed suggestions that Ansah’s reported location outside Lilongwe could somehow excuse her absence, pointing out that Cabinet meetings routinely take place across the country, with ministers expected to travel wherever needed.
“The location of a Cabinet meeting does not strip the First Vice-President of her constitutional right to attend and preside,” he said.
But White’s most explosive warning came over the potential legal fallout, cautioning that a Cabinet meeting chaired by someone lacking proper constitutional authority would be “constitutionally irregular and procedurally defective” — leaving any decisions made wide open to being challenged in court.
“Decisions taken at such a meeting could be declared null and void by the courts,” he warned.
The bombshell legal opinion throws a fresh spanner into the already heated national debate over Monday’s Cabinet meeting, deepening questions over whether Malawi’s constitutional order was properly followed at the very top of government.
While officials continue to insist the President has broad authority to delegate Cabinet chairmanship as he sees fit, White is adamant that such power is firmly boxed in by the Constitution’s strict succession rules — rules he says simply cannot be ignored.
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