Former Principal Secretary for Health Samson Mndolo has acknowledged systemic weaknesses in the handling of victims of the June 10 2024 plane crash, saying he would welcome the exhumation of Abdul Lapukeni’s remains for further examination.
He said this yesterday when he appeared before the Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of former vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others in the crash.
Mndolo conceded that weaknesses in the system affected decisions at the mortuary and during post-mortems.
His appearance was intended to help the committee understand the Ministry of Health and Sanitation’s operational response at the time, including the custody, authentication and documentation of records relating to the recovery, transfer, mortuary handling and post-mortem of the bodies.
families. | George Singini
Mndolo, who said his role at the time was to provide technical advice to government through the Office of the President and Cabinet, explained that Lapukeni’s remains were released early to allow the family to observe Muslim burial rites.
Lapukeni served as the Deputy Chief of Protocol within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and in this role, he was assigned as the protocol chief for Chilima.
On reports of interference with bodies before post-mortem, Mndolo described the development as unfortunate, emphasising that mortuaries are restricted facilities that should have proper controls. He added that it would have been possible to conduct a brief post-mortem on Lapukeni within the time available before burial.
He said: “Stronger systems are needed to prevent such incidents.”
Mndolo said he would support the committee if it recommended exhuming the remains for further examination.
Explained the witness: “Honourable members, I will repeat, before I come to that, family is important. We need to learn how to engage families. This is for the future.
“I think as a country, such funerals don’t happen more often and because of that, you have very few people with experience in handling them. That’s why you need to have things documented. When this happens, what do you do? I will stick to that. I think that’s what we need.”
The committee’s scrutiny follows earlier testimony suggesting that some bodies were tampered with before postmortem examinations, despite clear instructions against such interference. Lapukeni’s remains, in particular, were released for burial without undergoing an autopsy.
Kamuzu Central Hospital senior clinical officer Andrew Master Mwale, who was assigned to receive the victims at Sunset Private Mortuary in Kanengo and Goodwill Funeral Services, told the committee on Wednesday that Lapukeni’s remains appeared to require thorough examination.
When Dowa Kasangazi legislator George Kadzipatike (Malawi Congress Party) asked whether he would describe Lapukeni as a suicide bomber, Mwale declined to speculate, saying exhumation and further examination could provide clearer answers.
Police, medical and military personnel conducted postmortem examinations on June 13 2024, but Lapukeni was not among those examined because his remains had already been released for burial.
In an interview yesterday, committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu said the inquiry had interviewed about 90 percent of its intended witnesses and would consult the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions on the legal implications of exhuming some of the remains.
“That’s the process that we are pursuing now as Parliament. We are embarking on the process with the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General, there’s a process,” he said.
Nyamilandu also said the committee intended to conclude its investigations by December this year. It will, however, break from today to allow members to attend to their respective parliamentary committee engagements.
