By Durell Namasani
As Malawi prepares for fresh elections due in May this year , the diaspora chapter of the Malawi Congress Party has added a voice to the growing calls that its time for Malawi electoral commission chair Jane Ansah to go. Ansah oversaw the running of the last elections which were described as not credible by the court and nullified as they were marred by malpractices including the vast use of the famous Tippex to manipulate the results
Speaking to our reporter, the spokesperson for MCP Diaspora Wing Chalo Mvula said the MEC chair has lost the mandate to carry on to be the head of elections when the courts have already proved that she oversaw an election that was deemed a farce. ” In normal circumstances, Jane Ansah was meant to resign long time ago but it appears she has waged war against Malawians to try to prove a point , something which is absurd considering nobody except DPP has any confidence in her and her team “. Mvula elaborated that Malawians cannot expect a free and fair election with Ansah at the helm as she has got nothing new to offer
Jane Ansah has survived a wave of demonstrations conducted by the Human Rights Defender Coalition (HRDC) . She has been given deadlines so many times but she has refused to resign. She is on record as telling Malawians that she would only resign if the courts find her guilty of not conducting a fair election. In February the constituonal court judges nullified the results of the last election citing a number of irregularities under Ansah’s watch. Since then , the MEC chair has changed tune about resigning or retiring and has carried business as usual.
Mvula said MCP will communicate its position on the current structure of the electoral commuinication ” I am not in a position to say what MCP will do , but from a diaspora perspective it is our wish that Ansah should not run the forthcoming elections. Infact we want her , together with the current team of commissioners, including chief elections officer Alufandika to go “
Mvula took a swipe at State President Peter Mutharika for always having misplaced priorities.He said Mutharika was supposed to fire Ansah by now , rather than focusing of dissolving his cabinet. “President Mutharika thinks he can frustrate Malawians and the opposition by keeping Ansah but it will never work, we are giving him no choice but to fire Jane Ansah”.
Mvula went on to say a majority of Malawians in diaspora are looking forward to the forth coming elections as it offers opportunity for a fresh start far from from the rampant corruption, lack of rule of law, Nepotism ,lack of jobs and the many problems that have surfaced under DPP regime. Mvula reiterated that Malawians living in diaspora will not just sit down and watch Ansah mess up another election. ” We will closely work with foreign government and we will relentlessly keep calling for Mutharika to fire Ansah” concluded Mvula
