By Durell Namasani
President Peter Mutharika was notably absent from this week’s Cabinet meeting in the capital, marking the latest in a series of his non-attendance that has sparked renewed political debate.
The meeting, currently underway at the Bingu International Convention Centre, is being chaired by Second Vice President Enoch Chihana. According to an official statement, President Mutharika delegated Chihana to oversee the session as he attends to “other pressing government duties” in Blantyre.
However, in a significant twist, Vice President Jane Ansah – the First Vice President – was not invited to the meeting. Government sources confirmed that no formal communication was sent to her office, raising questions about her exclusion despite constitutional provisions that ordinarily place her next in line to chair.
The delegation to Chihana is grounded in Section 92(3) of the Constitution, which permits the Second Vice President to preside when both the President and First Vice President are unavailable. But opposition lawmakers argue that Ansah’s absence is not due to unavailability but deliberate omission, calling it “a constitutional slight.”
This is not the first time the President has skipped the weekly executive assembly. The agenda this week focuses heavily on the national budget and the ongoing fuel shortage crisis.
