MHRC wants inquiry into SKC plane crash
M
alawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) says it is engaging stakeholders to institute a commission of inquiry into the military plane crash that killed vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others on June 10 2024.
In a written response to The Nation questionnaire, MHRC chairperson Chikondi Chijozi said the commission is concerned that to date no inquiry has been instituted on the tragedy which would have helped to fill the information gap.
She said: “As the commission, we are concerned that no commission of inquiry has been instituted by the government over this tragedy.
“It is our understanding that the technical investigation report by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigations will not provide answers to all questions that Malawians in general and families in particular have on the circumstances surrounding the crash.”
Chijozi said the preliminary report from Germany investigators does not have all the required details.
“The preliminary investigation report has only highlighted some narrative facts without a detailed analysis. It does not provide conclusive analysis of what actually led to the fateful plane crash. There is a lot more information that can only be known if we have a commission of inquiry,” she added.
Chijozi has since appealed for patience from Malawians as they wait for the final outcome of both the technical investigation and proposed public inquiry.
She said: “The commission shares the grief and pain of the families of all the victims of the plane crash. We urge Malawians to also desist from politicising the issue to allow families to find peace in these difficult times.”
Chijozi said government is duty-bound to provide information on this incident in line with provisions of the Access to Information law.
Last month, Malawi Defence Force (MDF) Commander General Velentino Phiri told The Nation that the MDF submitted their investigation report to “necessary authorities” end of July.
Asked if government is planning for any inquiry and to make public the MDF report, Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu yesterday said they placed their confidence in independent investigators.
He said: “It is important that we place our primary confidence in the independence and capabilities of the investigation that is yet to present detailed findings.
“We agree that our main focus as a country is on the independent investigators whose independence may not easily come into question.”
Last Sunday, during a political rally in Area 24 in Lilongwe, Malawi Congress Party secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda exonerated President Lazarus Chakwera and his administration from any wrongdoing in the plane crash.
Chakwera, too, at the same event accused others for politicising the plane crash.
Preliminary findings by German investigators show that the MDF plane had no Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) or a Flight Data Recorder.
According to the US based National Transportation Safety Board the CVR “records radio transmissions and sounds in the flight deck to aid subsequent investigation should an accident or incident occur”.
Chilima and eight others died in the crash in Nthungwa on the Nkhata Bay side of Viphya Plantation.
