By nyasatimes
Africa-Press – Malawi. When President Peter Mutharika placed the Bible in Jane Ansah’s hands and she swore allegiance as Malawi’s new Vice-President, it wasn’t just a ceremonial oath. It was a political statement — and perhaps, a calculated gamble.
Ansah’s rise from the ashes of the 2019 “Tippex Election” to the second-highest office in the land has stunned even her fiercest critics. To some, she is Mutharika’s quiet masterstroke — a trusted confidant with the intellect, loyalty, and clean slate the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) desperately needs to survive its internal chaos.
To others, she’s a political decoy — a convenient escort for an ageing president nearing his twilight, a loyal lieutenant whose destiny will, like many before her, be frozen at the margins of power.
So, is Jane Ansah Mutharika’s chosen heir? Or just an escort to the finish line of his long political marathon?
The DPP’s Succession Headache
The DPP’s succession riddle is no secret. For years, the party has been haunted by the same unanswered question: who comes after Mutharika?
Ambitious contenders like Kondwani Nankhumwa, Joseph Mwanamvekha, and Bright Msaka were either sidelined, expelled, or silenced. Each attempt to challenge the 85-year-old leader ended with blood on the floor and loyalty tests that fractured the party’s soul.
In this chaos, Mutharika reached outside the political trenches and picked a woman with no factional debts — no youth wing, no regional clique, no grassroots patronage. A jurist. A technocrat. A clean pair of hands.
By all appearances, Jane Ansah was the safest choice. But in politics, safety is often just another form of risk.
The Making — and Unmaking — of Jane Ansah
Before she became vice-president, Ansah’s name was etched in controversy. As chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission in 2019, she presided over a chaotic election marred by irregularities that birthed a national revolt.
The “Tippex Election” protests made her one of the most polarizing public figures in modern Malawi. Her resignation in 2020, after months of pressure, was seen by many as an admission of moral defeat — a chapter that most believed had closed forever.
Now, that same woman stands one heartbeat away from the presidency.
For her admirers, it’s redemption. For her critics, it’s revisionism.
“She’s being rewarded for presiding over an election that broke the nation’s trust,” says a political activist in Blantyre. “That’s not healing. That’s historical amnesia.”
Ansah disagrees. “Tippex did not advantage any candidate. No rigging took place,” she said recently. “I forgave those who insulted me.”
Forgiveness, however, does not erase memory — and politics, especially Malawian politics, has a long memory.
The Vice-Presidency: Where Ambition Goes to Die
If there’s one lesson Malawi’s political history teaches, it’s this: the vice-presidency is a poisoned chalice.
Every vice-president since 1994 has walked that path — from Justin Malewezi’s fallout with Bakili Muluzi, to Joyce Banda’s expulsion by Bingu wa Mutharika, to Saulos Chilima’s frustrated defection in 2018.
As political scientist Nandini Patel observes, “The vice-president’s position in Malawi is structurally defined but politically diminished. It exists at the mercy of the President’s goodwill.”
Ansah’s challenge, therefore, is not constitutional — it’s cultural. The Constitution may call her “President-in-waiting,” but in Malawi’s political practice, that usually means “President-never.”
Unless she builds real networks within the DPP, she risks being reduced to ribbon-cuttings and condolences while the real game unfolds behind closed doors.
Mutharika’s Calculated Loyalty
Mutharika’s selection of Ansah was as personal as it was political.
“She doesn’t come with factional baggage,” said one senior DPP insider. “She gives Mutharika a quiet, controllable environment — no drama, no rivalries.”
Political analyst George Chaima sees the move differently: “Mutharika didn’t pick a running mate. He picked insurance — loyalty over legacy.”
In that sense, Ansah may be the president’s final shield against the DPP’s own internal knives. Her faith, her reserved demeanor, and her legal pedigree all make her an unlikely agitator — the perfect stabilizer for an unstable movement.
But stabilizers don’t always survive the storm.
The Woman, the Symbol, the Question
Ansah’s rise also has symbolic power. Gender activists like Maggie Kathewera Banda see in her appointment a quiet victory for women’s representation. “We finally have a woman vice-president chosen for her competence, not her charisma,” she said.
But competence doesn’t always translate into control.
Without a strong political base, Ansah’s influence will depend entirely on Mutharika’s trust — a fragile currency in a party where loyalty shifts with the wind.
“The DPP is not short of ambitious men who see themselves as heirs,” warns political scientist Ernest Thindwa. “Ansah could easily become a casualty of the same internal implosions that have toppled the party before.”
Between Legacy and Liability
As Mutharika begins his final term, the question of legacy looms large.
Can he finally hand over a united DPP, or will his last chapter be defined by another bitter power struggle?
Ansah could be his legacy project — the woman who proves the DPP can embrace inclusivity, civility, and generational renewal.
Or she could be his last political experiment — the loyal escort who ensures his smooth exit but never outlives his shadow.
For now, she walks a thin line between history and irony — between redemption and resentment.
The oath she took last Saturday may have been brief, but the political test ahead will be long, merciless, and deeply revealing.
Because in the DPP, vice-presidents don’t inherit power — they survive it.
And Jane Ansah must decide whether she is there to succeed Mutharika… or merely accompany him to the end.
Source: Malawi Nyasa Times
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