Saidi shrugs off questions on missing first VP Ansah
Government officials were left scrambling for answers on Monday after admitting they do not know why First Vice‑President Jane Ansah failed to attend a crucial Cabinet meeting in Lilongwe — despite reports she was very much in the capital while Second Vice‑President Enoch Chihana chaired proceedings.
The revelation came from Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi, who insisted President Arthur Peter Mutharika acted within his constitutional powers by delegating Chihana to preside over the meeting.
“The law allows the President to delegate the Second Vice-President. It also allows the President to delegate the First Vice-President,” Saidi said.
But when pressed on the burning question — why Ansah was absent — Saidi’s response raised more eyebrows than it settled.
“I do not know anything on that. Check with her office,” he said, offering no explanation for the First Vice‑President’s conspicuous no‑show.
Reports indicate President Mutharika was in Blantyre, leaving Chihana to chair the Cabinet meeting in his absence.
But Ansah’s failure to attend — or chair — the session has triggered a flurry of speculation, with many questioning whether the First Vice‑President was sidelined or simply chose not to appear.
Saidi maintained that the President has full discretion to assign either of the country’s two vice‑presidents to lead Cabinet business.
But his inability to explain Ansah’s absence has only intensified scrutiny over the power dynamics inside the Executive and raised fresh questions about who truly holds sway when the President is away.
Saidi’s insistence that “government is a machinery; it knows what it’s doing” has done little to calm speculation. If anything, it has sharpened the sense that something is being left unsaid.
The public wants clarity, not platitudes.
The incident has revived debate over:
- How Cabinet authority is exercised when the President is away
- What constitutional expectations exist for the First Vice‑PresidentWhether Malawi’s dual‑VP system is functioning as intended
- And whether the Executive is managing internal roles transparently.
For now, the mystery remains unresolved — but the political ripples are unmistakable.
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