Arthur Peter Mutharika has once again stepped forward as the face of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ahead of the 2025 presidential election. But what has truly stunned the nation is his choice of running mate: Jane Ansah, the former Supreme Court Justice and Malawi Electoral Commission Chairperson.
This pairing may go down as one of the most consequential and controversial in the country’s political history.
It is not just a ticket, it is a statement, a statement that Malawi is a nation stuck between generations, where youthful ambition is muted, political renewal is rejected, and the past continues to dominate the future.
Jane Ansah is not a stranger to Malawians. Her name is etched into the country’s democratic memory.
She was at the center of the 2019 elections, widely condemned for mismanaging the process, which culminated in the historic nullification of presidential results.
That election, riddled with correction fluid and irregularities, gave birth to the term “Tippex President” a legacy Mutharika has never quite shaken off.
Yet, six years later, the two are now sharing a ticket, asking the electorate for another chance. For some, this is bold. For others, this is reckless. But for the politically aware, it is tragic.
Mutharika is 85 years old. God forbid what may happen during his term if he wins. The real possibility is that Jane Ansah would ascend to the presidency.
APM has, in effect, strapped on a political suicide vest. He is gambling not just with his own legacy, but with the entire future of the DPP and the country.
In picking Jane Ansah, he has condemned an entire generation of emerging leaders within the party.
The likes of Nicholas Dausi, Chimwemwe Chipungu, and Bright Msaka may have been quiet, but others like Grelzeder Jeffrey, Dalitso Kabambe, and especially youthful aspirants like Gangata and Nankhumwa offered glimpses of generational transition. They have now been sidelined or expelled.
The writing was on the wall when Kondwani Nankhumwa, once the Leader of Opposition and a rising star, was thrown out of the party.
That moment made it abundantly clear: the DPP is not a party that is interested in leadership renewal. It is a party preserving power, not passing it on.
Mutharika’s campaign will not be powered by vision or youthful energy. It will be powered by structures, networks, and a nostalgic appeal to law and order.
That may be enough to keep the DPP’s base intact, but it will do little to excite a new generation of voters who already feel ignored, alienated, and voiceless.
The saddest part of this moment is not that the old are refusing to go. It is that the young have not yet risen in a way that commands national legitimacy. Malawi’s political culture remains top-heavy.
Party structures do not reward innovation or courage, they reward loyalty, silence, and subservience. In that environment, even the brightest young leaders are either co-opted, expelled, or buried in bureaucracy.
This is the real crisis: a lack of credible, compelling, and courageous alternatives. The elders prevail not because they have won the argument, but because no one else showed up to make a better case.
If this ticket succeeds, Malawi will have re-elected not just individuals, but a generational stalemate. The young will have lost once again, not at the ballot box, but in the backrooms where decisions are made.
In a nation where over 60% of the population is under the age of 25, this is not just disappointing. It is dangerous.
Because when the young fail, the old will prevail.
Not because they are best suited to lead, but because they are the only ones left standing.
