East African Gazette and agencies
Malawi
The President of Malawi, Lazarus Chakwera has announced the death of Malawi’s vice-president, Saulos Chilima who perished in plane crash.
The Vice President Chilima, his wife Mary and nine others were flying within the country on Monday morning when their aircraft disappeared
from airport radars.
The plane, a military aircraft, was flying in bad weather. The wreckage was found in Chikangawa Forest without any survivor.
President Chakwera during a press conference Tuesday said he had received information from the Defense Force commander that the
wreckage was found with all the occupants missing.
Chakwera said he was “deeply saddened and sorry” regarding the terrible tragedy
The vice-president and president come from different parties but the two teamed up to form an alliance during the 2020 elections.
Dr Chilima, 51, was on his way to represent the government at the burial of former government minister Ralph Kasambara, who died four
days ago.
Among the causality was the former First Lady Shanil Dzimbiri who was on a plane which took off from the capital, Lilongwe, on Monday
morning, meant to land at the airport in the northern city of Mzuzu, but was turned back because of poor visibility, He said.
The confirmation came after more than a day-long search effort in a forested area in the mountains of northern Malawi morning after it
took off from the country’s capital Lilongwe on Monday.
According to the Secretary to the President and cabinet, Collen Zamba said the President has expressed deep condolences to the bereaved
families and declared a public holiday and flags to fly at half until the burial of their remains.
Who was Dr Chilima?
Dr Chilima had been vice-president of Malawi since 2014.Chilima was out time arrested and charged in 2022 on allegations that he promoted
money exchange in awarding government contracts.
Last month, the court dropped the charges, giving no reasons for the decision. Dr Chilima is married with two children.
He earlier worked with mobile network Airtel Malawi, Unilever, Coca Cola and Carlsberg, according to his profile on the government’s
website.