Inquiry Frowns at DODMA

Members of the Parliamentary Adhoc Committee probing the June 10 2024 military plane crash that killed Vice-President Saulos Chilima and eight others, faulted Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) for giving contradictory accounts.

During the hearing yesterday at Parliament Building in Lilongwe, Dodma came under fire for its explanation on the role and availability of a mapping aircraft in the search and rescue mission the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) aircraft that went missing on June 10 2024.

Facing the committee for the second time in two weeks, Dodma Commissioner Wilson Moleni and his team were asked to explain how the department responded to the emergency, including the request for drone support and the initial response by airport police in Mzuzu.

In response, Moleni, who was not at Dodma when the accident occurred, conceded that the department did not actively participate in the search and rescue operation.

“But Dodma was ready to assist and had officers on the ground,” he said,

Moleni said the aircraft that Dodma-chartered for mapping exercises was available to support the search after the department learnt that the aircraft carrying Chilima and others was missing.

He said that Dodma informed the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) at around 7pm on June 10 that the aircraft could be deployed for the search.

But his account appeared to contradict an earlier report that Dodma presented to the same committee, which indicated that the mapping aircraft had flown out on the morning of June 11 2024 to conduct mapping and was forced to return due to bad weather.

Zomba Thondwe legislator Dumisani Lindani (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) highlighted the contradictions and said the slow reactions smacked of lack of seriousness and commitment.

“You have told this committee that approval for the aircraft to join the search was granted at about 9pm on June 10, yet the aircraft was only scheduled to join the operation at around 9am the following day [June 11]. This doesn’t show seriousness,” he said.

Committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu also expressed concern over the conflicting accounts and reprimanded Dodma for the same.

He said the mapping aeroplane was already a subject of suspicion at the time and the contradictory accounts were not helping matters.

Moleni responded that Dodma will engage the Department of Civil Aviation to reconcile the discrepancies and submit a report giving a clear account of what happened.

On the deployment of drones, he said Dodma officials were instructed at about 10.15pm to join Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) through the African Data Academy.

“By midnight, the department had assembled four drones, two equipped with thermal detection capabilities and two for conventional imaging,” said Moleni.

However, it emerged that the Dodma team left Lilongwe at about 4.30am and arrived in Viphya Plantation around 9am while the team from Must in Thyolo was already on the ground undertaking the search operation.

Moleni said there was no written communication between Must and Dodma because of the urgency of the operation.

He also acknowledged that although Dodma’s mandate covers all forms of disasters and accidents, its capacity has largely been geared towards responding to climatic shocks and weather-related emergencies.

Moleni recommended that the department be adequately equipped and empowered to respond swiftly to major emergencies.

In the afternoon, the committee also heard from police officer Lloyd Kamwendo, who was part of the search and rescue team.

He told the committee that he was a junior officer and that key decisions were made by his superiors, including the decision to call off the search on the night of June 10.

In his testimony, Kamwendo described the search and rescue operation as poorly coordinated, saying he was surprised that the wreckage was eventually found close to the road and not the areas where search teams concentrated their efforts.

Meanwhile, former minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu has asked Parliament to allow Mwanza Central legislator Felix Njawala (UTM Party) and Mulanje West MP Patricia Kaliati (UTM Party) to testify before the committee.

In a statement to Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman, the Dedza Mulunduni MP (Malawi Congress Party) argued that anyone with relevant information should be given an opportunity to appear before the inquiry, warning that excluding potential witnesses could leave important questions unanswered.

But Nyamilandu said the committee had already scrutinised its list of witnesses and would soon make it public.

President Peter Mutharika in February this year ordered a fresh inquiry into the crash that killed Vice-President Chilima and eight others in a bid to fill purported gaps in previous investigations.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Charles Mhango, who the President tasked to study two previous reports on the crash, told Parliament that the past investigations were riddled with gaps and failed to bring closure.

In its investigation, the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident attributed the crash to the crew’s failure to control the flight in adverse weather, citing low-altitude flying in marginal conditions, poor situational awareness and inadequate pre-flight preparation while the inquiry that then president Lazarus Chakwera appointed ruled out foul play, but cited adverse weather and human error as the cause of the accident.