Malawi religious grouping endorses HRDC’s anti-Jane Ansah protests

Written by Richard Kayenda

MZUZU-(MaraviPost)—Church and Society Programme of the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia has endorsed the demonstration by Human Rights Defenders Coalition (Hrdc) slated for 28 May, 2020; demanding Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) Chairperson, Dr Jane Ansah, to resign from her position.

Church and Society’s Executive Director, Moses Mkandawire, said Ansah and the Head of State, Arthur Peter Mutharika, are a cause for concern as to why they are protecting each other after Malawians lost confidence in the Mec Chairperson.

According to Mkandawire, it is high time Malawians defended the Democracy they fought for years back; hence their support for the demonstration.

“Why is Jane Ansah not resigning today? And it is extremely important for the Head of State to make a decision for her and the entire Mec. Otherwise, I don’t think the demonstration would be there because she promised the people that she would resign at the time the Constitutional Court would make its ruling,”

Mkandawire further called upon the legislature as the arm of government to chart the way forward regarding the date for the next polls, saying the importance of the date does not need overemphasis.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the National Assembly, Catherine Gotani Hara, has confirmed penning the President on the need for the House to convene.

Since 20 June, 2019, HRDC has been holding nationwide demonstrations demanding an immediate resignation of Mec’s Chairperson and all the commissioners, saying they failed to run the May 2019 tripartite polls professionally.

However, Dr Jane Ansah and the commissioners have since not succumbed to the pressure.

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).