Chilima family breaks silence

Fallen Vice-President Saulos Chilima’s family has broken the silence on his death last week in a plane crash in Mzimba and has called for an independent probe into the accident that killed nine people.

In his address during the State Funeral Service at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe yesterday, the deceased’s brother Ben Chilima, speaking on behalf of the family, said such an independent investigation would help to understand the circumstances that led to the accident and avert an accident of similar nature in future.

Episcopal Conference of Malawi president Archibishop George Desmond Tambala as well as Chilima’s longtime friend and legal counsel former Attorney General Chikosa Silungwe backed the calls for a thorough independent investigation.

President Lazarus Chakwera, speaking amid boos and jeers, assured that the accident will be investigated to establish what happened.

Making the family’s appeal, Ben Chilima said: “We are grateful to the pathologists who carried out tests to ascertain the deaths, but there is need for a thorough investigation on what exactly happened. Such a probe is important to ensure that such an accident does not happen again.”

Taking his turn, Silungwe, who was Chilima’s lead lawyer in the successful 2019 Presidential Elections Petition and their association dates back to their late teens while at Chancellor College under the University of Malawi, said the State has a constitutional duty to ensure an investigation.

He said such a probe would also bring dignity and respect to those killed in the crash.

On the other hand, Tambala, who is Archbishop of the Lilongwe Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, said “a thorough and transparent investigation” should be carried out.

Two days after the incident, the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) indicated that it would launch a probe alongside the Department of Civil Aviation for the ill-fated military plane that was earlier reported “missing” on the radar. The plane was headed for Mzuzu Airport last Monday and was scheduled to land around 10am, but the Office of the President and Cabinet only reported about its missing through a statement at 5pm.

Commenting on the calls for an independent probe, the President, who appeared to be holding back tears, assured that a comprehensive investigation would be conducted and that his administration has already engaged international investigators.

He said: “Our tears are about the desire to know what delayed the search for this plane… I would like to assure you, Malawians, that this accident will be investigated by an independent expert.”

The President defied a raucous chorus of boos and said he acknowledged that this was the time for him to be accused and criticised, but he will bear the brunt of the citizen’s anger as he is the leader of the nation.

Said Chakwera: “I have tolerated all manner of mourning. No one should seek revenge on those that I have appointed to spice up their mourning with accusations against me,” he added.

In his tribute to his father, Chilima’s first-born child, Sean, said his father was loving, a mentor and hardworking.

Revealing his father’s morning routine, Sean said he used to wake up at 4am daily, pray at a personal altar at home, go for church prayers at 6am and work out in the gym for an hour upon return before setting off for work.

“I love you Dad, and I will see you later,” Sean signed off, pledging to continue being a well-mannered child and to support his mother Mary and younger sister Elizabeth.

Tributes from the President, Archbishop Tambala, Silungwe and UTM Party secretary general Patricia Kaliati all praised Chilima as a hard worker and someone who had the passion to see his country develop.

Kaliati said Chilima transformed the political terrain in the country as he defied regional and tribal barricades to become an icon.

She also called for peace amid the sorrow, saying Chilima was a peaceful man who advanced values aimed at ensuring the citizens’ progress.

Her sentiments were echoed by Archbishop Tambala who said: “He was tribe-less and region-less.”

In terms of eulogies, glamour and sense of loss, the funeral service was equal or so close to former presidents Hastings Kamuzu Banda in 1997and Bingu wa Mutharika’s in 2012, respectively.

Chilima’s remains entered the national stadium at around 9:15am in a flower-strewn black hearse. It was greeted by enormous weeping, mostly from those clad in UTM Party regalia sitting on the terraces near the entrance.

Pallbearers, who comprised senior army officers, then slowly wheeled it past a battalion of stone-faced military guard, wearing red and black ceremonial uniforms, holding their rifles.

The State Funeral Service, a culmination of four days of mourning, was attended by foreign leaders, including former Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Tanzania Vice-President Phillip Isdor Mpango, who described Chilima as a great democratic leader and a true pan-Africanist.

Though Chilima did not rise to the presidency, his reformism and craving for high standards, some say, matched pound for pound those of fathers down under.

The yawning difference though is that he died way younger and full of life. Chilima and eight others died in a plane crash on Monday last week in Viphya Highlands in Mzimba en route to Mzuzu to attend the burial of former Attorney General Ralph Kasambara in Nkhata Bay.