Two separate events are being arranged as memorial services for departed vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others who died in a June 10 2024 military plane crash at Nthungwa, Viphya Plantation in Nkhata Bay.
The Nation has established that one of the events is being organised by government and will be held at Nthungwa, with President Lazarus Chakwera expected to attend, while Chilima’s family is also arranging a separate one at Nsipe in Ntcheu where he was buried.
Meanwhile, UTM Party, which Chilima founded and led until his death, has indicated that it will attend the event at Nsipe.
The development has moved political pundits to urge government to engage all stakeholders on the matter to ensure sanity.
Both events, according to Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu and spokesperson for the Chilima family Ben Chilima will be held on June 10, marking a year after the tragic event.
In an interview yesterday, Kunkuyu said: “I can confirm that government intends to honour the departed vice-president and those who died during the tragic occurrence on June 10 last year. We are still holding preparatory meetings and other briefings.
“Briefings are taking place with all stakeholders and after that, the structure will come out on how we are going to do it.”
On his part, Chilima said the family has been planning a memorial for the past two months, but have heard of government’s intention.
He said: “From the family, we already planned to go to Nsipe and the government plan is coming after we had started planning ourselves. I have heard that government is intending to do something at Nthungwa.
“So, we are meeting government tomorrow [today] and we will hear what they are saying, and together, we will make a final decision on who goes where.”
Commenting on the development, Political Science Association spokesperson Mavuto Bamusi said planning or holding of separate events signals deepening mistrust between the Chakwera administration and the UTM Party.
He said: “It also reflects deep dissatisfaction with the results of the Commission of Inquiry by the Chilima family. The widening rift is caused by growing mistrust and anger between the Chilima family and UTM over the death of the vice-president.
“My advice is that government should engage the UTM and the Chilima family to hold one event. This will help to foster peace and national unity which are important as elections approach.”
On his part, governance pundit Gift Sambo said most senior politicians in UTM do not appear ready to reconcile with Malawi Congress Party since abandoning the Chakwera-led Tonse Alliance.
“The memorial ceremony offers UTM the right platform to articulate and celebrate the Chilima legacy. On the other hand, the government would like to demonstrate its respect for the former vice-president,” he said.
Chilima, former first lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri and seven others were on board a Malawi Defence Force Dornier 228 MAFT03 from Lilongwe to Mzuzu Airport when it crashed in Viphya Plantation.
Findings of the inquiry ruled out foul play and attributed the accident to bad weather and other human factors.
On the other hand, investigators from German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), in their preliminary report last August, did not state the cause of the crash, but shared some details of circumstances surrounding the accident which raised questions regarding the aircraft’s fitness to carry passengers.
