Malawi’s vice-president executive ‘reshuffle’ exposes governance risks

A government press release meant to dismiss rumours about Malawi’s vice-president may instead have drawn attention to a deeper issue: the steady concentration of executive power at the presidency. The statement described the allegations as “false, baseless and deliberately misleading” and cited section 90(1) of Malawi’s constitution, which requires presidential decisions to be expressed in writing under the president’s signature. But governments rarely deploy their most senior civil servant to rebut unverified online speculation.

The statement’s very existence suggests that the controversy surrounding Ansah’s role touches on something more significant than political gossip. At stake is the transfer of the department of disaster management affairs (DoDMA) from the office of the vice-president to the office of the president and cabinet (OPC), a move that has implications for disaster governance, donor confidence and the internal balance of power within Malawi’s executive. Saidi announced the transfer of DoDMA on 10 January 2026 as part of a broader public sector reform agenda.

The responsibility for public sector reforms was also moved to OPC. In November 2025, shortly after beginning his second term, PresidentPeter Mutharikahad delegated oversight of DoDMA to Ansah. Within weeks, controversy erupted over her Christmas visit to Nottingham in the United Kingdom, reportedly costing about $97 000 in official travel expenses.

[paywall]

The shift was later reflected in the 2026/27 national budget. Parliament approved an allocation of K6.81bn ($3.9m) for the office of the vice-president, a reduction from the previous year. During parliamentary debate, Dedza MP Joshua Malango warned that the reduced allocation could affect critical functions including disaster management.

Finance minister Joseph Mwanamvekha said the cut was structural and linked to the transfer of public sector reform responsibilities to OPC. The bureaucratic adjustment matters because DoDMA sits at the centre of Malawi’s crisis-response architecture. The agency coordinates humanitarian and disaster response nationwide, working with the United Nations, the Red Cross and international NGOs across the country’s 18 local councils. Its institutional location therefore carries real operational consequences – particularly at a moment when Malawi is facingescalating climate shocks.

[/paywall]