Malawi’s Vice President, Dr. Saulos Chilima, along with nine others, including his wife, tragically perished in a plane crash in the Chikangawa mountain range, the government announced on Tuesday. President Lazarus Chakwera has declared a national day of mourning in response to the devastating loss.
“Unfortunately, all on board have perished in the crash,” the Office of the President and Cabinet stated in a Tuesday morning announcement. The crash was confirmed after an exhaustive search that lasted over a day in the densely forested mountains of northern Malawi. The military aircraft crashed on Monday morning shortly after departing from Lilongwe, the nation’s capital.
Chilima, 51, was traveling with his wife and other passengers to attend the funeral of Malawi’s former attorney general. The plane disappeared from radar when it was unable to land at Mzuzu airport due to poor visibility. Air traffic controllers advised the pilot to return to Lilongwe when the aircraft vanished from radar.
The military plane, identified as a Dornier 228 twin-propeller model delivered to the Malawian army in 1988, was carrying Chilima, his wife, seven military officers, and another passenger. This information was verified by the Associated Press through the aircraft’s tail number and data from the ch-aviation website.
Dr. Chilima, a notable figure in Malawian politics, was seen as a potential candidate for the upcoming presidential election. His career had not been without controversy; he was arrested in 2022 on corruption charges, accused of receiving kickbacks from a businessman in exchange for government contracts. Chilima consistently denied these allegations, which were dropped last month by the national prosecutor.
In a televised address on Monday night, President Chakwera assured the nation that search and rescue operations would continue until the plane was located. “I know this is a heartbreaking situation,” he said. “We are all frightened and concerned.”
Several countries, including the United States, provided technological support for the search efforts. The U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe expressed its deep concern over the crash in a social media post on Tuesday morning and offered all available assistance, including the deployment of a Defense C-12 aircraft.
This tragic incident has left the nation in mourning and raised concerns about air safety and the implications for Malawian politics in the upcoming election year.
