Former Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Colleen Zamba yesterday virtually testified to the Ad-hoc Committee of Parliament investigating the June 10 2024 military plane crash and explained protocol arrangements, among others.
But her testimony on the probe into the crash that killed vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others brought to light conflicting accounts regarding protocol arrangements on who was designated to represent the then president Lazarus Chakwera.
represent the president. | Nation
Zamba and former Clerk to the Cabinet, now Principal Secretary for Monitoring and Evaluation, Samson Ngutwa, told the committee in separate sessions that government had initially assigned the then minister of Local Government Richard Chimwendo Banda to represent the president at the funeral of former Attorney General and Cabinet minister Ralph Kasambara’s funeral in Nkhata Bay on June 10 2024.
However, they said the arrangement changed after the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) learnt that Chilima intended to attend the funeral.
Testifying from South Africa, Zamba said although Chilima was set to attend “in his personal capacity”, protocol required that he become the senior government representative because he was the highest-ranking public official expected at the funeral.
“I told the Commander that it was against protocol. I also told the minister that if Chilima was attending, then he would be the most senior Cabinet member at the funeral and, as such, the best person to represent the President,” she said.
Ngutwa corroborated Zamba’s account, saying Chimwendo Banda had accepted the assignment before the OPC received information that Chilima might also attend.
He told the committee he first learnt from lawyer Wapona Kita on the Saturday that Chilima, who was travelling from South Korea, was considering travelling to Nkhata Bay and that the information was later confirmed through the SPC.
Ngutwa said Chilima’s attendance depended on whether the Office of the Vice-President could secure a Malawi Defence Force (MDF) aircraft, which was understood to be in Mzuzu.
The testimony contrasted with earlier submissions from former minister of Defence Harry Mkandawire who told the committee that Chakwera had personally delegated him to represent him at the funeral.
But Zamba suggested that the discrepancy may have resulted from a misunderstanding in official communication.
“In my memo to the President, I wrote that the VP might attend. I think bwana took it to mean that the party vice-president for the North, Harry Mkandawire, would attend,” she said.
Zamba explained that in official government correspondence, Chilima was ordinarily referred to as the “Right Honourable Vice-President”, adding that the misunderstanding could explain why Chakwera later contacted Mkandawire.
The committee also heard fresh details about government’s response after the military aircraft carrying Chilima disappeared.
Zamba said after learning that contact with the aircraft was lost, she immediately contacted the MDF Commander, the Inspector General of Police and the airport commandant to coordinate search efforts.
She said her office obtained the passenger manifest and mobile phone numbers before contacting the then Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority director general Daudi Suleman, who linked her with the chief executives of Airtel Malawi Plc and TNM Plc to help trace the phones.
According to Zamba, one of the phones was last detected at about 12.30pm on a Raiply telecommunications tower, providing an estimated 10-kilometre search radius that guided the initial search.
Responding to questions from committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu, Ngutwa disclosed that Chakwera convened a brief Cabinet meeting after the aircraft was reported missing before addressing the nation.
“There was a short meeting. Chakwera briefed his Cabinet on the missing plane before he went on air. The meeting did not last more than 15 minutes,” he said.
When committee members requested the Cabinet minutes, Ngutwa said the records were classified and advised the committee to formally request them from the Office of the President and Cabinet.
Earlier, the committee heard from Chilima’s long-time friend Kelvin Sentala, a lawyer who testified that he met the former vice-president at his Area 43 residence on the evening of June 9, where they discussed church matters, Chilima’s recent foreign trips and plans to attend Kasambara’s funeral.
He said Chilima intended to travel by air so he could return to Lilongwe the same day to see off Chakwera who was scheduled to travel to the Bahamas.
Sentala further said Chilima sent him a text message at about 4.30am on June 10 asking whether he and two colleagues had already left for Nkhata Bay. He said that was their last communication.
He also provided context to Chilima’s reported remark, “If I die, I die,” saying the comment arose during a conversation following Kasambara’s death after Chilima reflected on where he himself would prefer to be buried.
In response to a follow-up question, Sentala said the original vernacular expression was: “Alipo amene sadzafa[?]”
The parliamentary committee is continuing to hear evidence from witnesses as it investigates the circumstances surrounding the June 10 2024 military aircraft crash that claimed the lives of Chilima and eight others.
