BLANTYRE, Malawi: Malawi’s government has confirmed that its Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine others on board a military aircraft, which went missing on Monday, were killed after the plane crashed.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to inform the general public that the search and rescue operation for the Malawi Defense Force Aircraft that went missing on Monday, 10th June 2024, has regretfully ended in tragedy. The aircraft, which was carrying the Vice President, the Right Honourable Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, and nine others, was found this morning in the Chikangawa forest,” a press statement read.
It added, “Unfortunately, all on board have perished in the crash The search and rescue operation, which was launched immediately after the aircraft went off the radar, has been conducted by various agencies, including the Malawi Defense Force, the Police Service, and the Department of Civil Aviation.”
The military plane carrying Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and former President Bakili Muluzi’s ex-wife Dzimbiri went missing in mountainous forests near a city in northern Malawi on Monday following which soldiers searched the area, President Lazarus Chakwera said.
The plane carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima, 51, former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri and eight others on board, left the southern African country’s capital, Lilongwe, at 9:17 am and was scheduled to land 45 minutes later at Mzuzu International Airport, 370 kilometres to the north.
But air traffic control told the plane not to attempt to land and to turn around due to bad weather and poor visibility, Chakwera said an address broadcast live on state TV channel MBC.
He said that air traffic control lost contact with the plane and went off the radar shortly afterwards.
The group was traveling to attend the funeral of a former minister. Three of the passengers were members of the military crew that piloted the plane, the president said.
Who Was Saulos Klaus Chilima?
Chilima has served as vice president since 2020. A candidate in the 2019 Malawi presidential election, he finished third. This vote was won by incumbent President Peter Mutharika, but was annulled by Malawi’s Constitutional Court due to irregularities. Chakwera came second in that election.
Chilima then joined Chakwera’s campaign as his running mate in a historic 2020 election rerun, during which Chakwera was elected president. This marked the first instance in Africa where a court-overturned election result led to the defeat of the incumbent president.
Allegations of corruption have been made against the vice president, who allegedly received money to influence the awarding of government contracts. However, prosecutors dropped the charges last month. This sparked criticism that the Chakwera government was not cracking down enough on corruption.
Chilma was arrested in late 2022 and appeared in court several times, but the trial has not yet begun. He denied the accusations.
The economist led several companies, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Airtel Malawi, and was also a member of the previous administration under former president Peter Mutharika.
Born on February 12, 1973, the incumbent Vice President of the Republic of Malawi rose to prominence after a successful career in marketing. Chilima spent most of his youth in Blantyre, where his parents worked.
Chilima, a devout Roman Catholic, is married to Mary (née Chibambo). The couple has two children, Sean and Elizabeth. In August 2015, the politician earned his Ph.D. in Knowledge Management from the University of Bolton in the UK.
