PAC votes to fire Ansah, commissioners: Proposes new Malawi Electoral Commission  

Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee (PAC)  which conducted an inquiry  on the current Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to see if it is competent enough to hold the Constitution Court sanctioned fresh presidential polls has  recommended the sacking of .MEC chairperson Jane Ansah and all commissioners for their incompetence and mismanagement of last May’s poll  that was marred with irregularities.

The Constitutional Court on February 3 2020 ruled that that nullified the May 21 2019 presidential election were “null and void” for massive irregularities and ordered do-over elections to be held within 150 days.

The court said the evidence before it was clear that MEC failed to follow legal requirements.

Of the 21-member PAC, 12 confirmed the incompetence of the commissioners to manage fresh elections as six members rejected the proposal while three abstained.

The commissioners to be fired include Mary Nkosi, Elvey Mtafu, Moffat Banda, Yahaya M’madi, Linda Kunje and Jean Mathanga.

Other commissioners facing the chop include the Reverent Clifford Baloyi and the Reverend Killion Mgawi.

However, PAC’s recommendation will be subject to approval of President Peter Mutharika as the appointing authority.

The inquiry follows the Constitutional Court judgement that nullified the presidential election over irregularities and mandated Parliament to assess the commissioners’ competences.

The nullification of the election by the judgement the five-judge panel comprising Healey Potani, Dingiswayo Madise, Ivy Kamanga, Redson Kapindu and Mike Tembo, follows complaints by opposition leaders Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Saulos Chilima of the UTM Party that the polls were rigged.