IMG 20240614 WA0008
Picture courtesy: (Getty)The late Malawi’s vice president’s party, the United Transformation Movement (UTM), calls for an investigation into the plane accident that led to the deaths of Saulos Chilima and others.
(The Post News)- The party of late Malawi’s vice president Saulos Chilima, the United Transformation Movement (UTM), has called for an investigation into the accident that led to the death of Chilima on Thursday, June 13.
Chilima and eight others died in a plane crash in Chikangwa Forest on Monday while on their way to the funeral of the late former Attorney-General Ralph Kasambara.
His party, UTM, partnered with President Lazarus Chakwera’s Malawian Congress Party (MCP) to run as a joint candidate in the 2020 presidential election.
But the alliance that put them in power is at this time under pressure, with UTM leaders demanding answers from government ministers over the accident.
Leading UTM figure Stevie Mikaya, a regional governor, said they demand to know what happened to their leader.
Mikaya stated that the plane had previously flown to Mzuzu under similar weather conditions.
“Was it a mechanical fault? Did it run out of fuel? We need the truth, he said.
On Thursday, UTM MPs and party councillors tried to bar Defence Minister Harry Mkandawire and Homeland Security Minister Ken Zikhale Ng’oma from attending Chilima’s funeral.
Speaking at the party’s headquarters in the Lilongwe capital, Mikaya accused the ministers of negligence.
“It is disheartening that the plane crashed at 10:00 a.m. and yet there was no action taken to save those involved in the accident.”
He stated that the party believes that appropriate efforts from the ministers could have saved lives.
Party member Chrissie Kanyasho criticised the government’s search efforts for the plane wreckage, which was only discovered on Tuesday, June 11.
Kanyasho said “When we learned about the crash around 2:00 pm, we mobilised to search Chikangawa Forest,” she said.
She said they found one military vehicle with nine soldiers searching the whole area, which was lacking. She argued that the search for the vice president was handled as if they were searching for a lost goat.
Chilima, 51, who died along with eight others, including former First Lady Shanil Dzimbili, will be buried in his home village in Ntcheu district on Monday.
Initial reports said ten people died on the plane, but one person listed on the passenger manifest did not take the flight.
The plane, a Malawi Army Air Wing Dornier 228-202K, went missing on Monday, June 10, after it failed to land in the northern town of Mzuzu due to bad weather.
The president, Lazarus Chakwera, stated that air traffic control warned the plane against landing and ordered it to return to Lilongwe. After the warning, the authorities lost contact with the aircraft.
Paul Valentino Phiri, Force Commander, said the search operations were delayed because of weather conditions.
On Tuesday, President Chakwera said that he had previously flown the same aircraft on a similar trip and that the crew had safely piloted it just hours before the accident.
“And yet, despite the track record of the aircraft and the experience of the crew, something went wrong with that aircraft, sending it crashing down,” he said.
Chilima was born on February 12, 1973, in Blantyre. His family is from Ntcheu district in central Malawi. He leaves behind his wife, Mary, and two children.
ildren, Sean, and Elizabeth.
About the Author
