OPINION | DPP Must Stop Humiliating Its Own Vice President

There is something deeply troubling happening at the heart of Malawi’s government.

It is not a corruption scandal. It is not a policy failure. It is not even an opposition attack.

It is the public and systematic diminishing of Vice President Justice Dr. Jane Ansah, SC, a woman who occupies the second-highest constitutional office in the Republic but is increasingly being treated as though she is an afterthought within the very administration she was elected to help lead.

This should concern every Malawian.

The issue is no longer about Jane Ansah the individual. It is about Jane Ansah the Vice President. It is about respect for constitutional offices. It is about the message being sent to women in leadership. And it is about whether the Democratic Progressive Party truly values the people it asks Malawians to elect.

Dr. Ansah did not lobby for this position through years of party intrigue. She was handpicked by President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika himself. He looked across Malawi, bypassed seasoned politicians, and settled on a distinguished jurist whose reputation had been built in the courts, not in political rallies.

He asked her to leave the bench and join him on the presidential ticket.

She accepted.

Today, one is forced to ask: for what?

Since assuming office, Dr. Ansah has endured what increasingly appears to be a deliberate campaign of political isolation. She has been given little visibility, little authority, and little opportunity to play a meaningful role in government affairs.

No allegations of corruption have been levelled against her. No accusations of incompetence have surfaced. No claims of disloyalty have been made.

Yet she continues to be treated as though she occupies the office of Vice President by accident rather than by constitutional mandate.

The pattern is impossible to ignore.

Whenever opportunities arise for the Vice President to exercise leadership, she somehow finds herself pushed to the margins. When President Mutharika travels, Cabinet meetings that should naturally fall under the stewardship of the Vice President have reportedly been chaired by ministers who rank far below her in the constitutional order.

That is not merely unusual.

It is insulting.

What possible justification exists for bypassing the elected Vice President in favour of appointed ministers?

What principle of governance is being served?

What signal does this send to the civil service, to government institutions, and to the nation at large?

The answer is obvious: it weakens the office and undermines respect for constitutional hierarchy.

Even more disturbing is the apparent reduction of the Vice President’s role to ceremonial appearances. Ribbon cuttings. Church functions. Funeral attendance.

These are important public duties, but they cannot be the sum total of the responsibilities entrusted to the second-highest office in the land.

Malawi’s Constitution did not create the Vice Presidency as a decorative ornament.

It created the office as a critical pillar of governance.

The latest episode at the memorial service for former Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima in Nsipe only reinforced public perceptions that something is fundamentally wrong.

In a ceremony honouring a former Vice President and reflecting on the significance of that office, many expected the sitting Vice President to play a prominent role.

Instead, President Mutharika designated Minister Bright Msaka to represent him while Dr. Ansah remained on the sidelines.

The symbolism could not have been more damaging.

At a memorial celebrating the legacy of a Vice President, the sitting Vice President was effectively overshadowed by a cabinet minister.

One does not need to be a constitutional scholar to understand why many Malawians found that troubling.

What makes the situation even more unfortunate is that it mirrors the very frustrations that dogged the late Dr. Chilima during parts of his own tenure as Vice President.

Malawians watched that unfortunate chapter unfold before. They should not be forced to watch it again.

President Mutharika cannot continue pretending that these incidents are isolated misunderstandings. They have become too frequent, too visible, and too politically consequential.

Leadership is not merely about appointing people to high office. It is also about empowering them to perform the responsibilities attached to those offices.

If Dr. Ansah was good enough to be chosen as a running mate, then she is good enough to be treated with the dignity, respect, and authority that her office demands.

If she is trusted to stand one heartbeat away from the Presidency, why is she repeatedly denied opportunities to exercise leadership?

And if there are genuine reasons for her apparent exclusion, Malawians deserve an explanation.

The silence has become deafening.

More importantly, the continued marginalisation of Dr. Ansah sends a dangerous message to women and young girls across Malawi. It suggests that even when a woman reaches the highest levels of public service, she can still be denied influence, visibility, and respect.

That is not the message a modern democracy should be sending.

The Democratic Progressive Party must confront this issue honestly.

It cannot ask Malawians to respect the Vice President while appearing unwilling to do so itself.

The office of Vice President is bigger than any political party, any minister, or any individual. When that office is diminished, the Constitution is diminished with it.

Jane Ansah deserves better.

More importantly, the office she holds deserves better.

And the sooner the DPP recognizes that fact, the better it will be for both the party and the country.

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