On Nthungwa 9 inquiry
Dear Diary,
Greetings from the Munda wa Chitedze Farm, where I relocated from the hustle and bustle of your city.
The temptation was to dedicate this space to Saulos Chilima, the Vice-President who died in a Malawi Defence Force (MDF) plane at Nthungwa in the Chikangawa Forest along eight others. But no, I would not do that.
Watching the ceremony from a TV set on the farm, we followed the eulogy from his son Sean on how he was a good father for him and his sister Elizabeth. He eloquently showed how his mother found in Chilima a loving husband. He described how the Veep instilled on them a spirit of hard work, respect for others and being prayerful.
The temptation was to jot a few words about how Chilima energised the Tonse Alliance campaign in the run-up to the Fresh Presidential Election. Remember the day he carried a 50-kilogramme bag of fertiliser?
Remember how, on the last day of the campaign he joined a run from Ndirande to Njamba?
The politicians, including President Lazarus Chakwera and former president Peter Mutharika, have done that already, expressing that he was a hard working patriot.
Well, everyone on the farm is wondering why the two [Mutharika and Chakwera] have not told us why they put Chilima on a corner, and yet mfana woganiza booo amassed so many youthful votes in their campaigns. Mutharika dropped Chilima for Evertone Chimulirenji as running mate in the 2019 elections, a move that led Chilima to form the UTM Party.
And Chakwera also, for some time, put Chilima on the corner when he put on the shelf the delegated powers Chilima was supposed to enjoy as veep.
No, I could not succumb to the temptation that Chilima was a great man professionally, becoming the first chief executive officer for mobile phone service provider, Airtel. Dr Matthews Mtumbuka ably did that, recalling one day when the company’s system crashed and customers were disconnected for a day or so. How Mtumbuka learned from him that work demands sacrifice, and that day he sacrificed his trip to the lake to be on the trenches to rectify the problem.
But, even Blantyre Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church Arbishop Thomas Luka Msusa preached a message of peace, where many are still looking to an explanation of how the accident came to pass. Those with stones, should make mafuwa and those with panga’s should just cut down milimo!
And then, the temptation was to join family and friends who are calling for an independent inquiry on the accident. That is necessary as part of the process towards closure.
A death as this is typical to raise questions of foul pray. There are gaps that need to be filled and an inquiry by the MDF will not be enough. They can conduct their own investigation but a wider investigation is most necessary.
Dear Diary, the hope is that the composition of the inquiry is made up of men and women of integrity. The hope is also that the inquiry will not just be a smokescreen.
What became of the inquiry into the death of musician Evison Matafale? What did the inquiry into student Robert Chasowa’s death result into?
I strongly believe those who were arrested for the murder of Chasowa are on our streets. In Malawi, being granted bail sometimes means a walk to freedom.
To pay homage to Chilima, I remember one proverb he brought about chitedze: Munda wa chitedze sapalira, amangootcha.
While we are at it, the call for restraint must be maintained. Last time I checked, before I left your city, the Malawi Congress Party offices were torched down after a commission of inquiry showed there was foul play in the death of Cabinet ministers Dick Matenje, Aaron Gadama and Twaibu Sangala and a backbencher David Chiwanga in 1993.
Dear Diary, it has been announced that Annabel Mtalimanja is the new Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson, taking over from High Court Judge Chifundo Kachale. Congratulations to Mtalimanja who becomes the third woman on the post, after Justice Anastazia Msosa and Jane Ansah.
To Kachale, all of us wish he could stay longer, after he ably handled the FPE to clear the tippexed polls Ansah administered, but it has pleased His Excellency not to renew his contract for the September 16 2025 elections. We loved your composure in handling the polls, My Lord.
