NEWS | Investigations | Edwin Mauluka
Malawi’s Minister of Justice, Charles Mhango, has proposed that the fresh investigation into the death of Vice President Saulosi Chilima should also examine the circumstances surrounding the death of former Attorney General Ralph Kasambara.
“You cannot separate these two deaths because they happened within 72 hours of each other,” Mhango told the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee investigating Chilima’s death on Wednesday. “The 2024 Commission of Inquiry report did not pay serious attention to determining whether the two deaths were connected.”
Mhango, the first witness to appear before the committee, argued that a fresh inquiry into the fatal plane crash was necessary because previous investigations left key questions unanswered and failed to provide closure.
Among the issues he raised was the timeline of events on the day of the crash. Mhango questioned how an individual, whose identity he did not disclose, announced at Kasambara’s funeral in Nkhata Bay at around 10:00am that Chilima would either not attend or would arrive late, even though the aircraft was scheduled to land in Mzuzu at 10:02am and is believed to have crashed at about 10:16am.
“What exactly happened for this person to make such an announcement when the plane had not yet crashed?” Mhango asked.
He noted that, had the aircraft landed on schedule, Chilima would likely have reached the funeral in Nkhata Bay around 10:30am to 10:45am.
The minister also questioned why the previous inquiry relied heavily on testimony from Malawi Defence Force officials that the aircraft did not catch fire after impact, despite reportedly carrying enough fuel for about four hours of flight at the time of the crash.
The Malawi Air Force Dornier 228-202K crashed in Nthungwa, within Chikangawa Forest, on 10 June 2024, killing all nine people on board.
The same aircraft had been used the previous day to transport Kasambara’s remains from Blantyre to Mzuzu, where it remained overnight before flying to Lilongwe the following morning to pick up Chilima, his aides and other officials for the return trip to Mzuzu.
At the time of his death, Chilima was leader of the UTM Party, then the main coalition partner of the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP). He was travelling to Nkhata Bay to attend Kasambara’s funeral after departing from Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe.
Charles Kasambara, brother of the late Ralph Kasambara, also testified before the committee, confirming that mourners were informed at around 10:00am that Chilima would not attend the funeral.
“We were supposed to start the service around 10 o’clock, but it went all the way to around half past ten. People were becoming impatient,” he said.
After consulting government officials, including then Deputy Minister of Defence Harry Mkandawire, and as the priest sought guidance on whether to proceed, Charles Kasambara said he was informed that Chilima’s aircraft had turned back to Lilongwe because it was unable to land in Mzuzu due to poor visibility caused by fog.
The requiem mass eventually began at about 10:40am.
Charles Kasambara said the family still had unanswered questions about his brother’s death but had no intention of pursuing the matter further, noting that the prominent lawyer, who had built a successful private legal practice, had both many friends and many enemies.
Kasambara died of heart failure, according to autopsy findings. He was found dead on 7 June, 2024, in a room at a lodge in the Malawi capital, Lilongwe.
The Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee has now begun public hearings into the plane crash. The hearings are expected to continue until 1 July 2026, with witnesses from across government and other institutions set to testify in an effort to establish a clearer account of the events leading to the fatal crash.
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