They say to err is human and, indeed, no one is immune to mistakes. But in politics, some errors reverberate with a weight far greater than others, shifting tides, fracturing loyalties and defining legacies.
Such was the case last Friday, when Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, announced his running mate for the upcoming September 16 presidential election.
His choice, Justice Dr Jane Ansah, the controversial former chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec), was met with a collective gasp of disbelief. For many, this was not just a misstep, but a colossal blunder; a decision that reeked of political tone-deafness and alienated a large segment of the electorate still bearing the scars of the disputed 2019 elections, which Ansah had presided over.
But the mistake did not begin with Ansah. It started with the DPP’s decision to put forward the 85-year-old Mutharika as its presidential candidate once again, a move that, to many, signalled desperation more than strategy.
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Those who gathered at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) on Friday or watched the event unfold live on television saw a sobering portrait of a man politically diminished.
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Once a towering figure in Malawi’s legal and political arenas, a co-architect of the country’s constitution, Mutharika now appeared to be struggling under the weight of time.
He was surrounded by a phalanx of over 20 security personnel, whose primary job seemed less about protecting him from threats and more about being prepared to catch him should he fall.
His physical frailty was on quiet but unmistakable display. At the entrance of the auditorium, Mutharika avoided the stairs entirely, choosing, instead, the wheelchair-accessible path.
Even inside the venue, when Sangwani Mwafulirwa of the Malawi Electoral Commission called on him to step forward and announce his running mate, he once again bypassed the steps.
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Despite Mwafulirwa’s instruction that Mutharika come alone, his security entourage flanked him tightly, unwilling to risk a solitary walk that might end in embarrassment. It was a stark contrast to the confident statesman he once was, and the optics were hard to ignore.
When Mutharika finally reached the podium and delivered the name Justice Jane Ansah, the moment felt heavy, not triumphant. His suit hung loosely on his frame, the once-familiar sharpness of his dress and demeanour lost to the passage of years.
The man who once stood tall at the centre of Malawi’s political theatre seemed to be fading before the nation’s eyes.
In that moment, it was not just the choice of running mate that felt like a mistake. The entire act, the candidacy itself, appeared to many as a sombre miscalculation, a poignant reminder that time waits for no one, not even former presidents.
Who is Jane Ansah?
Justice Dr. Jane Ansah is a Malawian legal figure whose name became etched in the nation’s political history following the controversial 2019 presidential elections.
As Mec chairperson during the election, she oversaw a process that many Malawians and international observers condemned as deeply flawed.
The use of correction fluid called Tippex to alter results on tally sheets became symbolic of the alleged electoral fraud, raising serious questions about the credibility of the poll.
Although she consistently defended the management of the elections at press briefings, television interviews and even in court, the Constitutional Court of Malawi found the elections to have been riddled with irregularities. On February 3, 2020, the court made a landmark ruling to nullify the results and ordered a fresh election, supervised by Judge Chifundo Kachale and eventually won by Lazarus Chakwera.
Soiled reputation
Civil society organisations and everyday citizens, outraged by what they saw as electoral malpractice, took to the streets in months-long protests, demanding Ansah’s resignation.
Her reluctance to step down, even in the face of growing public pressure and civil unrest, only deepened the resentment. Though she eventually left the public stage and travelled to the United Kingdom, she remains associated with the 2019 presidential election.
To many people, especially the youth, who vividly remember the turmoil of that period, the mere mention of her name still evokes strong emotions.
DPP heavyweights shocked
The announcement of Ansah as Mutharika’s running mate landed like a thunderclap across the room. Sudden, jarring and unwelcome. For the party’s top brass, it felt like a heart attack, a betrayal wrapped in formality.
Those watching the live broadcast could plainly see the shock ripple across the faces of some regional presidents. Their stiff expressions, the awkward glances, and the forced smiles told a story no words could.
As Ansah made her way to join Mutharika at the podium, some party leaders, still reeling, instinctively turned to their phones, pretending to check messages or take calls, anything to mask the storm raging inside them.
The cameras might not have captured their words, but they caught everything else: the silence, the tension, the disbelief.
Outwardly, they maintained a brave front, clapping dutifully and nodding in feigned approval. But beneath the surface, their hearts were heavy with bitterness and disappointment.
These were the same individuals who had borne the weight of the party’s survival through five tumultuous years in opposition. They had campaigned tirelessly, sacrificed personal gain and kept the political machinery intact through one of its darkest periods.
And now, just as the moment to claim reward and recognition approached, they watched it slip away. Handed instead to someone who, in their eyes, had not paid the price.
While they were battling political fires back home, Ansah had been enjoying the comfort of the United Kingdom. For them, it was not just a personal loss. It was a stinging reminder of how cruel and arbitrary politics could be.
What twisted the knife even deeper is the fact that Ansah is not even considered a political heavyweight.
She brings neither charisma nor crowds, and certainly not the kind of grassroots loyalty that seasoned party stalwarts command.
To them, she is an outsider elevated by grace rather than grind.
Earlier this year, she had been humiliated in her own backyard—Ntcheu—when she lost the primary elections to Everton Chimulirenji. It was a crushing defeat that seemed to end her political ambitions before they had even taken off.
And yet, in a twist of fate only politics could conjure, the party leadership intervened. The election results were quietly nullified, a move that left Chimulirenji disillusioned and furious to abandon the party altogether.
That moment, once seen as an internal misstep, now loomed large in the minds of the party elites.
Ansah, once brushed aside by her own constituents, had now leapfrogged them all to stand beside Mutharika. It was a bitter pill to swallow. And for many in the room that day, one that would leave a lasting scar.
