By Apengie Apengire
Your Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika,
President of the Republic of Malawi,
Office of the President and Cabinet,
Capital Hill, Lilongwe.
Your Excellency,
I write this not as a politician, but as a Malawian whose heart aches for our country. This is my prayer for Malawi, placed in your hands. Malawi has bled too long from a disease that starts at the very top: a broken relationship between the President and the Vice President. I beg you, Sir, to ensure you have a cordial, respectful, and working relationship with your Vice President, Dr Jane Ansah. Prove the critics wrong. Show them that you and your deputy see eye to eye, speak with one voice, and serve one Malawi.
We have seen this painful pattern since 1994, and each time the people of Malawi have paid the price. During the Bakili Muluzi administration, the relationship between President Muluzi and his Vice President, the late Dr Justin Malewezi, became strained. Differences emerged, trust eroded, and government business suffered. The nation watched two leaders elected on one ticket drift apart, and service delivery was the casualty.
Your late brother, President Bingu wa Mutharika, also walked this painful road. His relationship with his first Vice President, Dr Cassim Chilumpha, turned sour. That chapter was not enough. In his second term, President Bingu’s relationship with his Vice President, Dr Joyce Banda, also collapsed.
Towards the end of Joyce Banda’s first term after succeeding the late president, Professor Bingu President, Dr Joyce Banda dumped her own Vice President, Mr Khumbo Kachali, sidelining him from key duties. The message sent to Malawians was clear: even at the highest level, unity could not hold.
Your Excellency, you yourself have lived this history. In your first term, the relationship between you and your Vice President, the late Dr Saulos Klaus Chilima, deteriorated. The differences became public. Dr Chilima eventually resigned from the Democratic Progressive Party and formed the United Transformation Movement. In 2020, Dr Lazarus Chakwera partnered with Dr Chilima in the Tonse Alliance, yet their relationship also faced serious strain. Dr Chilima was arrested, and reports indicated he was deprived of delegated duties for a long period, until his tragic death in the Chikangawa plane crash in June 2024. The cause of that crash is still under investigation, and the nation continues to mourn.
Now, barely seven months after the 2025 election that returned you to office, reports and public discussion suggest a similar pattern is emerging. You withdrew the disaster management portfolio you had assigned to your Vice President, Dr Jane Ansah.
The reason given was austerity measures and cost-cutting. Since that decision, there have been reports that Dr Ansah has not been delegated other substantive responsibilities. On social media and in public commentary, Malawians are talking. The discussion is awash with speculation about a cold relationship between you and your Vice President. Critics are already saying, “Here we go again. Same story, different actors.”
Your Excellency, with respect, this is your last term in office. The Constitution does not allow you to run again. History will judge you not just by roads built or policies announced, but by the example you set for leadership and unity. A President and Vice President elected together must work together.
The office of Vice President is not a decoration. It is a constitutional office created to support the President and to ensure continuity of government. When the two offices are in conflict, or when one is visibly sidelined, the whole government loses credibility. Civil servants become confused. Investors hesitate. Development partners ask questions. Most importantly, ordinary Malawians lose faith.
I plead with you, Sir, do not accept information that is designed to create enmity between you and your deputy. In every administration, there are people who benefit from division. They whisper words that poison trust. They suggest that a strong Vice President is a threat. They argue that delegating duties is a risk. This is wrong and destructive thinking. A strong Vice President makes a strong President. A united leadership gives Malawi stability.
Dr Jane Ansah is the second woman to hold the office of Vice President in Malawi. She has a long record of public service, including as Chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission, where in 2019 she declared you winner of tripartite elections though nullified but she executed the elections with diligence.
Millions of Malawian women and girls are watching her. When they see her sidelined, they learn that leadership for women is only symbolic. When they see her respected and given real work, they learn that Malawi is serious about inclusion. You have a chance to set a new standard.
Mr President, address this matter openly. Sit down with Dr Ansah. Clear misunderstandings if they exist. Assign her clear, meaningful responsibilities that match her capacity and the trust Malawians placed in her when they voted. Let her oversee projects, represent Malawi at events, and speak on government policy. When Malawians see you and Dr Ansah working together, holding joint meetings, and defending each other in public, the rumors will die. Critics will be proved wrong. The phrase “they don’t see eye to eye” will be replaced with “they are working for Malawi.”
This is not about politics. It is about governance. Malawi is facing real challenges: economic pressure, climate shocks, unemployment, and a need for investor confidence. These problems cannot be solved by one person. They require a united executive. When the President and Vice President are in harmony, Cabinet works better. When they are divided, even good policies fail because implementation becomes weak.
Your Excellency, you have a unique opportunity. You have served before, you have seen the cost of division, and now you have been given another term. Do not let Malawi repeat the same cycle. Do not let your administration be remembered as another chapter in the book of broken presidencies. Let it be remembered as the administration where the President and Vice President chose unity over suspicion, work over isolation, and Malawi over personal egos.
I pray for wisdom for you, Sir. I pray for humility to listen and courage to act. I pray for a spirit of teamwork between you and Dr Jane Ansah. Malawi needs that example now more than ever. The youth, the mothers in the markets, the farmers in the villages, and the students in our colleges all need to see that their leaders can work together.
Mr President, please work in harmony with your Vice President, Dr Jane Ansah. Give her responsibilities. Trust her. Defend her. Let the nation see a new picture at State House: two leaders, one mission, one Malawi.
May God bless you, bless Dr Ansah, and bless the Republic of Malawi.
Yours in prayer for our nation,
Apengie Apengire
Concerned citizen
