Police IG refuses to intervene on calls to force Ansah resign

Malawi police chief Rodney Jose has refused to intervene in the political stalemate following calls to force Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Jane Ansah resign from her position for allegedly compromising herself and mismanaging the May 21 Tripartite Elections and purportedly favouring President Peter Mutharika.

Jose said this during a news conference he held jointly with the Malawi Defence Force commander Vincent Nundwe on Monday in Lilongwe.

Asked if he will engage the MEC chairperson to persuade her to resign, Jose|p said the reasons given for her to resign are more political in nature hence, the police doesn’t see merit in intervening in such matters.

“Reasons that have been advanced for the resignation of Justice Jane Ansah are more political therefore, I, Rodney Jose as inspector general, I find no merit in it for us to intervene in politics,” said Jose.

Jose and Nundwe and their respective senior officers held the presser to call on the Human Rights Defenders Coalition to halt countrywide protests to force Ansah resign following the highly disputed presidential poll results.

Former president Bakili Muluzi is mediating on the political impasse following the refusal by Ansah to step down.

Muluzi met president Peter Mutharika last week to impress upon him to fire Ansah.

Some governance analysts have said Ansah’s position at MEC has become technically untenable in the face of growing calls for her resignation.

“The significance of the issues that some people have raised, including the position by the court to validate the petition by Malawi Congress Party [MCP] and UTM, shows that the concerns are genuine,”saidErnest Thindwa, a political commentator based at Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi.

Thindwasaid he believed that Ansah’s status as MEC chairperson was no longer safe.

“In my view, perception matters most and that the best thing Justice Ansah would do is to honourably resign.”

Ansah has become the second MEC chairperson to face resignation calls after the late William Hanjahanja who tendered his resignation in May 1999 amid pressure from electoral stakeholders.

Then president Bakili Muluzi replaced Hanjahanja, who cited health grounds as reasons for his resignation within weeks to the 1999 elections, with Supreme Court Judge James Kalaile.

Stakeholders accused Hanjahanja of poor leadership, but the commission said medical doctors had given him a two-week bed rest after treating him for malaria and high blood pressure.