Jane Ansah Answers

… adamant on resignation

Ansah: My conscience is clear

Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) Chairperson, Jane Ansah, has finally broken her silence on management of the May 21 Tripartite Elections, trashing former vice president and UTM president Saulos Chilima’s claims that she did not want him and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) torch-bearer Lazarus Chakwera to win the presidential election.

Ansah also responded to critics— among them officials from MCP, UTM, Human Rights Defenders Coalition— who want her to resign, equating such a call to the propagation of “lawlessness”.

She said this in an exclusive interview with Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS)’s Joab Chakhaza yesterday evening.

In the interview, the Mec Chairperson dodged the question on Tipp-ex use, saying the matter was in court.

“When time to give evidence [about Tipp-ex] comes, it will be given in court….Tipp-ex is a correction fluid; [Tipp-ex] is a trade name [trademark]; you use it to correct errors. Whether it was used for positive or negative purposes the court will find out. Mec never supplied Tipp-ex,” she said.

Asked if the commission foresaw the problem of Tipp-ex use and why it went ahead to accept forms adulterated with the correction fluid, she said: “We did not foresee that there would be that problem. We did not advise them [polling staff] on what to do [in case they wanted to make corrections on something]; these are staff that are trained. We expected them to do a thorough job. As I have said, I cannot go into details.”

On calls for her to resign, Ansah said: "When the court says, ‘because of these irregularities, the elections were not properly done’, yes [I would resign].
"My conscience is clear that I did everything according to the law and the processes that were there."

Ansah, who acknowledged getting a letter from Chilima, in which he asked her to resign and accused her of influencing Mec staff to turn against him, said she had responded to the former vice president.

“The issues are the gist of the matter and are in court; so, I cannot say what I wrote in my response. I did not even tell my family members what I wrote. What I can say is that I did my work according to law. Some of the issues were dealt with in [Mec] updates [at Comesa Main Tally Centre]. Those [issued raised in the letter] are allegations,” she said.

She went further to say she has eight siblings who belong to a number of political parties, making particular mention of Democratic Progressive Party, MCP and UTM.

Ansah added that they have a family forum where they discuss issues and that, at no time, did she instruct anyone [at Mec and family levels] to vote for, or turn against, a particular party.

The Justice of Appeal further trashed claims that she was anti-Muslim, saying she has relatives at Kamphata who are Muslim.

At the head of Mec: Ansah

“Sometimes, when I attend family events, I attend events at the mosque with them,” she said.

She also said she was yet to get a report on what happened to the Mec worker who transferred Chilima from a polling station in Lilongwe to the island district of Likoma — Chisepo Polling Centre in Chizumulu to be specific.

While waiting for Mec to clear the mess, Chilima said at the time: ''Since I am standing here, people may think that I am trying to incite violence during the election process, but my name cannot be found."

Ansah said at the time that they had discovered that someone transferred the UTM leader’s name to Chisepo Polling Centre. 

“We made a follow-up and found who had done the transfer. It was one of Mec’s hired staff. We do not know if police have found the person. We are interested [in the issue] but we have not received a report from police,” Ansah told ZBS yesterday, adding that, if the individual is apprehended, Mec would act as a witness.

Justice system’s big test

 

Contesting electoral outcome in court: Chilima

The Constitutional Court case on elections is no ordinary case; it could be a route to democratic maturity.

Malawians purchased their liberty on a peaceful note in June 1993, when a national referendum showed that citizens were tired of the status quo— one party regime— and wanted change; the change being another turn of multiparty politics.

It must be borne in mind that Malawi started off, immediately after changing its name from Nyasaland to Malawi, on a multiparty politics note, with more than two political parties competing in national elections that culminated in the election of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).

Then, one turn led to another and another and, when the biggest turn of them all was made, one party regime.  The other parties sort of ruled themselves out of relevance.

And so began Malawians’ romance with one political song, the song that ended in 1994 when, after tilting towards democracy, Malawians voted in the United Democratic Front (UDF).

And, every now and then, especially when Malawians vote in national elections, the experiment that is multiparty politics faces a litmus test— again and again, like an exponential curve.

In 1999, when the UDF won the presidential elections without partnering other political parties, Alliance for Democracy (Aford) and MCP cried foul that the polls were “rigged”. United Party, formed by former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika, lost but its torch-bearer had no qualms.  

Apparently, Malawians abandoned the ‘one party’ for the ‘they have rigged the elections’ song.

In 2004, when UDF won again, this time after featuring the pair of Bingu and Cassim Chilumpha— who was, this year, banned from contesting for the presidency on Tikonze Alliance ticket, apparently because, according to Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec), he did not have the mandate to do so— the MCP cried foul.

It was joined by Mgwirizano Coalition, represented in the presidential election by veteran politician Gwanda Chakuamba. There were protests in Blantyre City and, sadly, the life of a girl, Epiphania Bonjesi from Chilobwe, was lost after she was shot dead by a police officer whose identity will never be established.

The song ‘they have rigged the election’ was not sang in the 2009 elections, when Bingu, who had pulled a fast one on UDF by resigning from the party on Anti-Corruption Day, February 5, in 2005 and forming his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won the presidential election overwhelmingly.

Mutharika won with 66.1 percent of the votes cast, the first presidential candidate to do so. In 2004, Bingu won with 35.9 percent votes.

In 2014, incumbent president Peter Mutharika won with 36 percent of the votes and 38 percent in the May 21 2019 presidential election.

Of these elections, it is only the 1994 and 2009 presidential elections that did not attract calls of ‘rigging’, that song synonymous with Malawi’s nascent democracy.

Otherwise, the MCP cried foul in 2014 and this year, when the party has been joined in the chorus by UTM of former vice president Saulos Chilima.

They lament the use of Tipp-ex, which Mec Chairperson Justice Jane Ansah said surprised the electoral body, as “Tipp-ex is not part of the elections’ package”.

This prompted losing political parties to, using separate ways, seek recourse in the courts.

Justice Charles Mkandawire asked the political parties to consolidate their cases, culminating in Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda appointing five judges to president over the case at the Constitutional Court.

The case is in court and presents the greatest test to the Judiciary.

On Wednesday, the judges will decide on whether the opposition UTM and MCP filed applications to the court procedurally, as argued by DPP’s lawyers, while the opposition parties will pray that their voice be heard.

Meanwhile, people continue to protest across the country, sometimes attracting the ire of police.

Two weeks ago, police teargassed MCP headquarters in Lilongwe, including outgoing United States Ambassador to Malawi Virginia Palmer, who was bidding bye to MCP leader Lazarus Chakwera at the party’s head offices.

Whether police have silently apologised to the American government is not known.

As the case rages, it is clear that there have been bigger and smaller casualties. The bigger casualties, in terms of losing an election, are the MCP and UTM while the smaller parties are UDF and Alliance for Democracy (Aford), which have seen the numbers of their legislators dwindle.   

In the 1994 parliamentary election, Aford scooped all seats in the Northern Region and some in the Central Region.

However, Aford’s numbers in Parliament started to dwindle after the then party leader, the late Chakufwa Chihana, entered into an alliance with the then governing UDF. Currently, Aford has one MP in Parliament.

UDF came to power in 1994 after defeating Malawi Congress Party in 1994. It swept seats in the Southern Region and most seats in the Central Region.

During the 1999 elections, UDF won 91 seats but the figures continued to drop in subsequent elections when it won 49 seats in 2004 and 16 in 2009, 14 in 2014 and 10 in the 2019 polls.

There Malawi’s greatest losers.

Who knows? Maybe the Judiciary may become the next loser, even when Malawians continue to treat it as a potentate in the land of the lake— Malawi.

Malawi Police Officers tear-gas American Ambassador

What started as a normal day ended on a tearful note for United States Ambassador to Malawi, Virginia Palmer, whose Thursday scheduled meeting with Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera at the party's headquarters ended abruptly after police 'mistakenly' fired teargas on the premises.

Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, has been the scene of political upheaval as, on Tuesday this week, suspected MCP supporters forced civil servants out of Capital Hill, the seat of the government in Lilongwe.

Chief Secretary to the Government, Lloyd Muhara, on Tuesday released a statement calling on civil servants to return to work, saying the situation had normalized.

On Wednesday, Palmer told the media that she saw no problem with UTM of former vice president Saulos Chilima and MCP's decision to contest results of the May 21 2019 presidential election in court.

She said the political parties had a constitutional right to seek legal redress.

It is under this background that Palmer met with Chakwera at MCP headquarters in Lilongwe on Thursday, when police mounted road blocks and barred people from walking to, let alone driving on the road, to the opposition party's headquarters.

This was happening after MCP supporters gathered at the party's headquarters.

As Palmer and Chakwera meeting went on, police in armored vehicles arrived and started firing teargas canisters into the MCP compound.

One police officer on the ground said they did not know that Palmer was on the premises.

"Of course, we fired teargas canisters into the compound but stopped after we were told that the United States Ambassador to Malawi was in the building. It was too late though, as teargas led to the abrupt end of the meeting," he said.

Meanwhile, unhappy opposition supporters are marching in protest in Nkhotakota District.

On Tuesday, people marched in Dowa District and Lilongwe, the capital.

TEAR-GASSED-- Palmer

   

Security Situation at Capital Hill

Government of the Republic of Malawi regrets to inform the general public that provision of Government services was disrupted today 4th June 2019 when the Capital Hill was invaded by intruders. The situation is back to normal and services will continue to be provided.

All Civil Servants are therefore being called upon to continue discharging their duties normally from their offices.

Government wishes to inform the general public that Capital Hill and all other Government offices will be safeguarded, by all means possible, so that the public is not denied the services.  

Government further assures the general public that the Rule of Law will take its course.

Lloyd A. Muhara

CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT

4th June, 2019

SECURITY SITUATION AT CAPITAL HILL IN LILONGWE

Government of the Republic of Malawi regrets to inform the general public that provision of Government services was disrupted today 4th June 2019 when the Capital Hill was invaded by intruders. The situation is back to normal and services will continue to be provided.

All Civil Servants are therefore being called upon to continue discharging their duties normally from their offices.

Government wishes to inform the general public that Capital Hill and all other Government offices will be safeguarded, by all means possible, so that the public is not denied the services.  

Government further assures the general public that the Rule of Law will take its course.

Lloyd A. Muhara

CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT

4th June, 2019