Mutharika to appoint new Malawi Electoral Commission by June 5 for fresh polls

May 25, 2020 Green Muheya - Nyasa Times 34 Comments

President Peter Mutharika will in consultation will political parties appoint a new commission for the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) by June 5 to   to handle preparations for the fresh presidential elections, State House has said.

Kalilani: President Mutharika will do his part as required by law.

The contract for the current commissioners expires on June 5 and its chairperson Jane Ansah has resigned.

“The President is very much aware that the contract for the current commissioners will expire on June 5. So, by that time, he will do his part as required by law,” said Presidential press secretary Mgeme Kalilani.

He also the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC) will communicate to the Judicial Service Commission this week about the vacancy at MEC chairperson seat since the resignation of Ansah so that they could prove a new nominee to the appointing authority.

Since June of last year, Ansah has been the target of protests calling for her resignation over her handling of last year’s botched election.

However, Ansah, a judge at the Supreme Court of Appeal, said she did not bow to protesters’ demand, to avoid setting a bad precedent.

“In [the] future, if a judge is writing a judgment and you sit and there is uproar because of that judgment, and they demand that judge should resign. Should the judge resign?  And not be heard? I believe democracy must be preserved in this country at any cost and that is why I did not resign,” Ansah said.

Malawi is expected to conduct fresh elections on June 23 following the court order in February for a new poll within 150 days.

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34 replies on “Mutharika to appoint new Malawi Electoral Commission by June 5 for fresh polls”

  1. Mgeme start parking your bags. your time is up…. mubwelera ku TVM inu muzikawerenga Nkhani za madzulo.

  3. This Jane has wasted our time as a country!

    We all knew what she did was unlawful, irregular and gross sbversion of the will of the people. The courts both Concourt and Supreme Court Of Appeal connfirmed the same

    It is sad that motherland continues paying a huge cost for unacceptable conduct of such maroons. APM is at the centre of all this but believe you me his days are numbered…..

    As Malawians we have chosen change and it is here to stay!

  4. They have to get oriented, read And understand the law And guidelines ,and it’s assumed they will be in tip top shape before 23 June and run a national election kkkkk Maloto a chumba. MCP and the judges phuma.

    1. Chair wa MEC amasankha munthu woti ndi Judge wa Supreme Court already. It cant take them 1 month to understand the presidential and parliamentary act

  5. No issue has more clearly shown Mutharika’s disdain (dislike) for the Rule of Law than the MEC issue where Mutharika has fought the Rule of Law tooth and nail and has laid to rest any lingering doubts that may have been there about Mutharika’s ‘Zero-Respect’ for the Rule of Law!!!! That is more than enough to disqualify Mutharika from vying for the highest office on the Land!!! Can Malawians imagine anyone governing Malawi without the Rule of Law!!!!?? What would replace it???!!!— the Rule of the Jungle or Lawlessness!!!!???? It is the Rule of Law that protects everything Malawians hold dear—life (your very existence), liberty (all your rights), property (all that you possess), and, indeed, your very happiness!!! A person that has ‘Zero-Respect’ for the Rule of Law has no place (business) anywhere near the levers of power, much less running any government, believe me!!! Mutharika should be bad news for everyone, supporter or not!!! The Law Protects Everyone, do not fool yourselves and never imagine being governed or ‘living’ without it!!!

  6. Mgeme Kalilani, will you pls remind the president to remove all MEC commissioners and Secretariat as well. Remind him also to follow the right procedure of how the appointment is done, that all parties should give 3 names of their MPs…

  8. Kandulu ,
    Jst a correction of things.
    During the 1994 general elections, Mec chair was Justice Anastasia Msosa, and not Prof Brown Bizweck Chimphamba as u put it.
    Rather , Prof BBC, as he was fondly called ,was the chairman of the transition committee if am not mistaken.

    Ngati ndalakwitsa , ena andikonze.

  9. Ana ndi azimai ndiwomwe akufunika mmipando MALINGANA NDIZAKUMIDIMA ZOMWE ZILIPOZI
    Athu muvotele DPP UDF
    Osachita mistake
    Kumbuyo kwa mkoko,kuli nyamata wazaka 41,yemwe anakhwima mundale kwazaka

    1. You are lost my brother. may you are one of the thieves destroying this country. Your days are numbered

  10. Each party nominates its representative for commisioner, that means MCP, UTM, PP,DPP,UDF,MBAKUWAKU will each send names for the president to approve. For Chairperson, The supreme court sends 3 names from its current judges without conflicts of interests and the president picks one who all parties have to have confidence in. Remember Chilima endorsing Jane Ansah before 2019 elections?. Ndiye timvane pano, ulendo uno zolira ayi!!! mumvetsetse mmene zimayendela!!

  11. Just imagine if it was supposed to be like this everywhere that a football team should always choose its own referee and assistant referees. Such a team can never lose a match. It is like students marking their own exam papers. Laws need to change in Malawi.

    In fact in the future, any qualified Malawian should be eligible to stand as MEC chair. The best election in Malawi was administered by an academic without any problems in the name of Prof Brown Chimphamba in 1993. The election which everyone thought could have easily started a war in Malawi but losers accepted defeated humbly and the country moved on.

    1. Better, much bigger brains than you already thought this through. there is a reason why a Mec Chair has to be Justice of the supreme Court. Imagine if Jane Ansah was a mere professor from some University. In 1993 people didnt even understand what democracy was, people just wanted change, almost 90% of the country demanded change, you cant compare 1993 to 2020. Anywhere in the world elections are a highly contested affair. In america till date there are still fighting over the 2016 election. itis watittis

      1. So you are educating me here that in American only Supreme Court Judges run elections. This is discrimination. Anyone qualified person should be appointed to any job in Malawi. Why should a job just be reserved for certain people? People should get jobs based on competency and merit. We have seen the courts themselves telling us that some of its own are incompetent. This means that trusting them to appoint future MEC Chairs is over. Laws should change.

        1. the electoral process boarders much on the law as such it is a requirement the a person should be well conversant with the law like a supreme court judge, you cant hire a lawyer for the post of projects engineer

  12. Jane Mayemu Mjojo Ansah is the ‘EPITOME’ of GRAND CORRUPTION. My fellow Malawians, we have to deal with this nuisance (jane ansah) if we are to make any meaningful progress as a nation.

  13. “President” Mgeme Kalilani seems to be making some important decisions. He quickly accepted disgraced Ansah’s resignation; and now he seems set to put in place a new MEC. May be he should also consider taking to the campaign trail since APM seems to be incapacitated…close to a month now since campaigning started and APM is still nowhere to be seen

    1. Prime Minister Johnson of the U.K. contracted Covad-19 earlier this year. He is 55 years old and for about two full weeks he was under treatment in a U.K. health facility. During the time of fighting for his life in intensive care, the government kept on updating the nation on the Prime Minister’s health condition and recovery progress. The Prime Minister eventually recovered and returned to work once he was fully fit. Our African Presidents tend to ignore funding their own country’s health services infrastructures adequately because they rely on flying abroad for medical attention. Little did they imagine that a time would come when international travel would be banned or restricted. It is possible that our ‘acting’ President’s total disappearance from public eyes could well have to do with health issues exasperated by poor health services in the country. I hope lessons will be learned from these unexpected seasons in life. By the way, like the UK government did, what is wrong with releasing updates on the progress of the health of a head of state to the general public? Most African governments regard the information surrounding the head of state as ‘classified information’ to be treated with the utmost secrecy, it is even considered as a ‘taboo’ to inform their nation that a head of state has actually died! 12th April 2012 is a case in point. Let’s wait and see, time will tell.

  14. Welcome development, but we don’t want DPP sympathisers whether reverends or not. Last time we had Rev. Ansah, Nkosi, Baloyi, Moffat Banda, M’gawi. No Maulana or Billy please.

    1. My friend ndi bwino kumadziwa malamulo anu amati chiyani? Commissioners are given by the parties represented in parliamnet in this case it will be DPP, MCP, UTM, PP and UDF. So the president just endorse those names that’s all. Likewise MEC chair the names do come from judicial service and the president too just pick one out of the three if am not wrong and endorse him/her.
      Musayambe kulira a bwana kodi mesa mumati Jane Ansah sanayendetse bwino chisankho tangodikirani upezeni moyo.

    1. This moron has lowered the standard of supreme court judges. Wish her a long life of shame

  16. Whether Jane Ansah has resigned on her own will or she has been pushed by pressure from the people it doesn’t matter. What matters most is that a big chunk of Malawians don’t need her as a commissioner simple.

  17. This man called Mutharika is so bitter that he will do everything possible to make the Presidential election difficult to administer. Why wait that long other than ding now. Do we have time to wait. What is happening should be a big lesson for Malawi. Never give powers to old people anymore.

      1. Yes we need new commission now so that ter is proper transition n enough time to read our situation

    2. NOT an Age Thing But an Arrogant Ego Thing that he is better than everyone including YOU he disrespects Malawians that he is NOT needing to Campaign and speak directly and work with the people of Malawi.
      Enter a New Era VOTE WISELY VOTE CHANGE VOTE UTMCP

  18. macawi we got no time for snorting old cows here.
    i thought it was mentioned about this to be their assignment??
    musaticedwetsepo apa. QUICK PLEASE

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