Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Charles Mhango yesterday asked for investigations into possible links between the plane crash that killed former vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others and Chilima’s corruption case involving military procurements.
He said this when he testified before the Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee investigating the accident that occurred on June 10 2024 when a Malawi Defence Force (MDF) Dornier 228 aircraft went down in Chikangawa Forest Reserve.
| George Singini
The minister urged the committee to probe the possible connection, saying that in the said corruption case, MDF refused to release certain documents to Chilima, citing national security as reason.
Mhango noted that the aircraft involved in the crash belonged to MDF; the same institution that resisted to release the documents during Chilima’s corruption trial.
“It may be important to expand the scope of any further inquiry to include the corruption case against the late vice-president and any possible connection to the documents the MDF declined to release, in relation to this aircraft accident,” he said.
Arrested on November 25, 2022 and released the same day, Chilima was slapped with six counts of corruption for allegedly receiving a $280 000 (about K290 million) bribe from United Kingdom-based businessperson Zuneth Sattar to secure government contracts.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) slapped Chilima with three counts of corrupt practices by a public officer contrary to Section 24(1) of the Corrupt Practices Act (CPA); two counts of receiving advantage for using influence in regard to contracts contrary to Section 29 (1) (b) of the CPA and failing to make a full report to a police officer or an officer of the ACB that an advantage had been corruptly given contrary to Section 36 (1) of the CPA.
During the 18 months the case was alive, one of the most outstanding issues was a heated argument over Chilima defence team’s demand for more disclosures from the State.
The defence’s legal team sought disclosures on minutes of the Defence Council meeting held on October 16 2020 authorising the procurement of armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and a memorandum of March 2021 from the MDF to President Lazarus Chakwera seeking authorisation to buy APCs from Malachite FZE, a company linked to Sattar, using single sourcing procurement method.
ACB submitted to the court that it had difficulties obtaining these documents from MDF, following which the judge asked MDF, through the Attorney General, to appear before him to justify the position.
Later in April 2024, the High Court dismissed as premature the defence’s application for disclosures of ‘sensitive documents’ in the case.
But the judge said if such information would be relevant in the matter, in the interest of fair trial, a decision will be made on whether to tender the ‘sensitive’ information or terminate the case altogether.
A month later, on May 6 2024, the court discharged Chilima following a certificate of discontinuance the then Director of Public Prosecutions Masauko Chamkakala made on May 3 2024.
Just over a month later, a military plane carrying Chilima to attend the funeral of former government minister Raphael Kasambara in Nkhata Bay, crashed, killing everyone on board.
Investigations, including one from Germany’s Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigations and President Chakwera’s Commission of Inquiry, cited the poor condition of the aircraft and severe weather, among other factors, as the cause of the crash.
But Mhango said yesterday the Chakwera inquiry was limited in its scope as such its report lacked necessary depth in interrogation of certain aspects of the plane crash; hence, the need for further inquiry.
Mhango said the parliamentary inquiry should look into the relationship between the late Kasambara and circumstances of his death and that of Chilima as the two died in a space of 72 hours.
“They died within a space of 72 hours, back to back, in mysterious circumstances,” said Mhango.
Kasambara, a distinguished lawyer and former Justice minister and Attorney General, was found dead at a Lodge in Area 47 in Lilongwe on June 7 2024.
The then National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said preliminary findings of Kasambara’s autopsy revealed that death was due to heart failure.
Mhango, in his analysis of the Chakwera inquiry, told the Ad-hoc committee to take note that the former president had delegated Chilima to represent him at Kasambala’s funeral on June 10.
Mhango also told the committee to take note that the plane carrying Chilima was scheduled to land in Mzuzu at 10.02 am and the funeral was in Nkhata Bay where it would take the vice president 30 to 35 minutes to reach.
He said Chilima was expected to be in Nkhata Bay at about 10.45 am, but the Chakwera–sanctioned inquiry report stated that the funeral of Kasambara started at 10am after someone announced that the vice president had been delayed.
Mhango wondered how someone could have announced at 10am when Chilima’s arrival in Mzuzu was supposed to be at 10.02 am and then drive from Mzuzu to Nkhata Bay for about 30 to 35 minutes.
He added that the announcement had been made before the aircraft went down at 10.16 am.
He faulted the Chakwera inquiry for not interrogating who had authorised Kasambara’s funeral ceremony to start at 10 am without the vice-president who had been delegated to represent the president.
The minister said the commission also did not interrogate who announced that the vice-president had been delayed.
In his testimony, Charles Kasambara told the committee that his brother’s funeral ceremony was supposed to start around 10am, but mourners waited up to around 10.30, which saw other getting impatient with the delay.
He said he consulted government officials on the time the service would start since the vice president was not in. He added that he asked government officials if the service could start since the priest was ready.
He said government officials informed him that the plane carrying the vice-president failed to land in Mzuzu due to bad weather and it had gone back to Lilongwe. He was then given the go-ahead to ask the priest to start the Mass for the funeral.
Kasambara also told the committee that his family is not comfortable having an inquiry into his brother’s death, but said he still had questions about his death.
On his part, the committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu Manda said the information provided by Charles Kasambara will help shape the inquiry
“We have learnt a few things from you on how we should proceed going forward. You have given us a detailed account of how events unfolded and that will help us shape our investigations,” he said.
