Former Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Colleen Zamba, has strongly defended the government's response to the military plane crash that claimed the lives of former Vice-President Saulos Chilima and eight others, insisting that officials did everything that was expected of them under unprecedented circumstances.
Appearing virtually on Thursday before the Parliamentary Committee investigating the June 10, 2024 tragedy, Zamba dismissed allegations of negligence and mismanagement, maintaining that the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) acted appropriately from the moment the aircraft was reported missing.
"We did our job as it was supposed to be done. There is nothing written that sets out exactly how information should be handled in a situation where a plane crashes," Zamba told the committee.
She added:
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"People worked tirelessly to coordinate everything and ensure it was properly handled and I was one of them. I have no regrets because no one had ever handled anything like that before."
The remarks came after repeated questioning from Mulanje North MP Gilbert Khonyongwa, who challenged her over alleged delays in communication, negligence and the government's handling of the disaster.
Zamba's appearance marked the first time she has testified before Parliament after missing several previous summonses issued by different parliamentary committees. Speaking from outside Malawi, she offered a detailed account of the events leading to the fatal flight and the government's response after the aircraft disappeared.
One of the key revelations from her testimony was that former President Lazarus Chakwera did not officially assign Chilima to represent him at the funeral of former Cabinet Minister Ralph Kasambara in Nkhata Bay.
According to Zamba, President Chakwera had initially designated then Minister of Local Government Richard Chimwendo Banda to attend the funeral on his behalf.
However, she said her office later received communication from the Office of the Vice-President indicating that Chilima had decided to attend the funeral in his personal capacity.
"The President had planned to delegate the then Minister of Local Government, Richard Chimwendo Banda, to represent him at Kasambara's funeral in Nkhata Bay, but I was later informed that Chilima would attend the funeral in his personal capacity," she said.
As a result, Chimwendo Banda was relieved of the official assignment, although he still travelled to Nkhata Bay to support the Vice-President during the funeral.
Zamba also distanced the Office of the President and Cabinet from the arrangements surrounding the military aircraft used for the trip.
She told the committee that the Vice-President's office independently organised the aircraft and travel logistics, meaning OPC had no role in planning or approving the flight.
Recounting the tense hours of June 10, Zamba said she was informed after Chilima had departed that the military aircraft had failed to land at Mzuzu Airport because of poor weather and was reportedly turning back to Lilongwe.
She said the initial report did not immediately raise alarm.
"After hearing that message, it was not very surprising because a plane can fail to land due to bad weather. I have experienced that myself and so has the President."
The situation changed after authorities lost radar contact with the aircraft.
Zamba said she immediately began coordinating communications among key government agencies as efforts intensified to establish the plane's whereabouts.
She revealed that she personally contacted then Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) Director General Daudi Suleman, requesting him to connect her with the chief executives of Airtel Malawi and TNM.
The telecommunications companies were asked to assist investigators by tracing mobile phone signals belonging to passengers listed on the flight manifest.
"I went on a call with the then Director General of MACRA, Daudi Suleman, whom I asked to connect me with the directors of Airtel and TNM. We requested their assistance in tracing the contacts of those on the passenger manifest," she explained.
Beyond the search operation, Zamba said OPC established several emergency sub-committees that worked alongside the then Minister of Justice and other government agencies.
The teams coordinated every stage of the national response--from recovering the bodies in Chikangawa Forest, where the wreckage was eventually located, to transporting the remains to the victims' respective homes for burial.
Throughout her testimony, she rejected suggestions that government officials mishandled the crisis.
Earlier, the committee also heard from Samson Ngutwa, the Clerk in the Office of the President and Cabinet, who corroborated Zamba's account regarding the funeral delegation.
Ngutwa testified that OPC had already prepared condolence funds for Richard Chimwendo Banda after he had initially been selected to represent President Chakwera.
However, once officials were informed that Chilima would instead attend the funeral, the funds were redirected to the Office of the Vice-President.
"It was earlier communicated that Hon. Chimwendo Banda would represent the President, but I was later informed that the Vice-President would attend instead and that the funds designated for Hon. Chimwendo Banda should be channelled to the Office of the Vice-President. We did just that," Ngutwa said.
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The committee's first witness was Chilima's close friend, lawyer and United Nations employee Kelvin Sentala, who disclosed that he spent the evening with the Vice-President just hours before the fatal journey.
Sentala told lawmakers the meeting was purely social, during which they discussed church matters, Chilima's recent trips to South Korea and South Africa, and preparations for the Nkhata Bay funeral.
He recalled Chilima explaining that he intended to travel by air because he needed to return to Lilongwe the same day to bid farewell to President Chakwera before the President's departure for the Bahamas.
"Regarding the trip to Nkhata Bay, he informed me that he would be travelling by plane because he needed to return the same day to see off the then State President on his trip to the Bahamas later that day," Sentala said.
Following Wednesday's proceedings, Parliamentary Committee Chairperson Walter Nyamilandu Manda welcomed Zamba's long-awaited appearance, describing her testimony as important in helping the committee piece together the events surrounding one of Malawi's worst aviation disasters.
"This committee has shown that you can summon someone virtually and the responses we received have provided us with a clearer picture of some of the questions we have had," Nyamilandu said.
The parliamentary inquiry is continuing to gather evidence from key witnesses as lawmakers seek to establish a comprehensive account of the events before, during and after the military aircraft crashed in Chikangawa Forest, killing Chilima and the eight other occupants on board.
