I want to step aside—Jane Ansah
Malawi Electoral Commission Chairperson, Jane Ansah, says she has written the appointing authority for her position—President Peter Mutharika— that she wants to step aside after the Supreme Court found her and her fellow commissioners incompetent in how they had handled the May 21 2019 presidential election.
Ansah, a Supreme Court judge and a Senior Counsel, presided over an election which was declared by five High Court judges to have been marred by serious and systematic irregularities.
The Supreme Court, which she is technically part of, agreed with the decision of the lower court that Mec had not paid attention to laws governing elections in this country.
In an interview with Malawi Broadcasting Corporation last evening, Ansah said she is stepping down after the highest court had agreed with the High Court’s decision and not because ‘some individuals’ had taken to the streets to propel her ouster.
We did not manage to get a comment from the Office of the President on its response to Ansah’s public pronouncement that she wants to step aside.
Alick Ponje is a features writer at The Times Group. He graduated from the University of Malawi with a bachelor’s degree in education, majoring in literature in English. Follow him on Twitter @aponje
