Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman has sparked a national debate after questioning the representation of Muslims in government, arguing that the country’s sizeable Muslim population remains underrepresented in senior public appointments. Speaking during prayers organised by the Jamat Area 13 Mosque in Lilongwe over the weekend, Suleman said Muslims could no longer be considered a […]
Chief Secretary Justin Saidi dismisses critics as pushing ‘propaganda’, while an academic and a rights chief say the public is entitled to know more The government will not disclose details of President Peter Mutharika’s private trips abroad, Chief Secretary Justin Saidi has said, dismissing critics’ questions as propaganda. Saidi said: “Private is private. It is […]
UTM president Dalitso Kabambe has ignited debate over presidential accountability and the continuity of government, questioning who assumes responsibility for the affairs of the state when the Head of State is away on a private trip. In a statement that places transparency and constitutional governance at the centre of public discourse, Kabambe drew a distinction […]
A Lilongwe resident has submitted a draft Constitutional Amendment Bill to Parliament proposing far-reaching reforms to Malawi’s Vice-Presidency, including ending the automatic succession of a Vice-President to the presidency and making the office entirely appointive and removable by the President, Nyasa Times has learnt. In a proposal addressed to Speaker of the National Assembly Sameer […]
The most striking line in the Human Rights Defenders Coalition’s latest statement is not a demand but a doubt. Malawians, it says, are “entitled” to know whether President Peter Mutharika is actually running the country. Issued on Saturday, the statement accuses the administration of eroding the independence of key institutions while ordinary citizens struggle with […]
There are critical moments in the life of a constitutional democracy when we must step back and confront a fundamental question: what does the supreme law of our land, the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, demand? Since our hard-fought-for democracy, the recurring debates over the status, authority, and security of tenure of Malawi’s First […]
There is a certain grim comedy in watching Malawi’s constitutional lawyers rediscover, in real time, a problem their own profession helped bake into the founding document three decades ago. Dr Jane Ansah says she has been frozen out of Cabinet. A parade of eminent jurists now confirms this is, indeed, a problem. What none of […]
Vice-President Jane Ansah has finally broken her silence on what appears to be a serious breakdown in the relationship between the country’s second-highest office and the administration she serves, revealing that she was excluded from two Cabinet meetings and stripped of her disaster-management responsibilities. But the most curious part of her explanation is that, while […]
Barrister Allan Ntata, a former legal adviser to the late President Bingu wa Mutharika, has warned that Vice-President Jane Ansah’s decision to pursue legal channels in response to her exclusion from government fails to grasp the true nature of the problem confronting her. In a Facebook post, Mr Ntata said Dr Ansah’s admission that she […]
Chief Secretary to Government Justin Saidi has remained tight-lipped over allegations that he is behind the blocking of Vice-President Jane Ansah from attending Cabinet meetings, instead opting to stick to scripted official remarks when he addressed the public on Tuesday. Rather than responding to the mounting claims – which have followed VP Ansah’s own public […]
Malawi’s First Vice-President, Dr Jane Mayemu Ansah, has broken her silence to reveal the extraordinary extent to which she claims to have been sidelined, marginalised and ostracised within government — but insisted she has no plans to run crying to the President who handpicked her for the role. Speaking in an interview at her office […]
Malawi’s Vice-President, Jane Ansah, has accused the country’s most senior civil servant of deliberately excluding her from Cabinet business, in an extraordinary public intervention that lays bare tensions at the top of government. Speaking at her office in an interview on Monday, Dr Ansah said Dr Justin Saidi, the Chief Secretary, had withheld information relevant […]
Let’s start with the number everyone in Lilongwe is talking about today: 7.6 out of 10. That’s the mark President Peter Mutharika has been given — in a report card on his first year in office. And on the face of it, that’s a pretty good grade. Free secondary education, actually happening. A farm subsidy […]
An independent Nyasa Times assessment of government performance ahead of President Peter Mutharika’s first anniversary finds a clear contrast: strong leadership at the top, uneven delivery across cabinet The President scored 7.6 out of 10, the highest rating. The assessment credits him with fulfilling key pledges. Free secondary education is now in place. The Affordable […]
Serious questions are being asked over the Mutharika administration’s supposed commitment to austerity, after it emerged more than ten Cabinet ministers and senior government officials jetted off to Morocco to watch the Scorchers’ WAFCON final — even as Malawians are told to brace for further belt-tightening. The high-profile delegation descended on Rabat to witness the […]
President Peter Mutharika — affectionately known to Malawians as Mkulukutamoyo — has returned back home today, returning from a private visit to South Africa amid mounting speculation that a dramatic cabinet shake-up is on the cards. Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi confirmed the President’s return through Kamuzu International Airport on Saturday afternoon, following […]
Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika will not attend the 46th SADC Summit of Heads of State in Durban, with Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana instead representing the country at the key regional gathering, the Foreign Affairs Minister has confirmed. George Chaponda confirmed the arrangement when asked who would be attending the summit on the President’s behalf. “Yes, […]
All eyes will be on Vice President Jane Ansah on Wednesday when she takes to the stage as guest of honour and keynote speaker at a major church conference — with many watching closely to see whether she uses the platform to address her increasingly public sidelining by government. The Vice President’s appearance comes amid […]