Malawi's parliamentary inquiry into the military plane crash that killed vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others has heard testimony pointing to fragmented command procedures, informal requests and impractical travel plans in the days before the fatal flight.
Appearing before Parliament's Ad hoc Committee, Brigadier General Dan Kuwali said his role in the events was limited to relaying a funeral-related request from the late Raphael Kasambara family for a Malawi Defence Force aircraft and verifying its feasibility with the Air Force.
He stressed that he had no operational or command responsibility for deploying the aircraft.
Kuwali told MPs he had informed then deputy commander Lieutenant General George Alexander Jaffu Jr that the Kasambara family wished to charter an aircraft to transport relatives and the casket from Blantyre to Mzuzu, noting that any authorisation would have to come through the Joint Force Headquarters.
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He also recounted an earlier approach from former attorney general Samuel Tembenu, who asked on 8 June 2024 whether a military aircraft could be made available for the funeral.
Kuwali said he contacted then Air Force commander Brigadier General Robert Ishmael, who confirmed an aircraft was available but emphasised that formal approval procedures would need to be followed.
Kuwali further testified that he declined to facilitate travel arrangements for former vice-president Chilima, saying the proposed itinerary was "not operationally achievable".
He told the committee that Chilima's aide, Joshua Valera, informed him on 9 June that approval had allegedly been granted for Chilima to use the same aircraft chartered by the Kasambara family.
"I made it expressly clear to both Mr Valera and Counsel Chuka Mwale that I would not participate in or facilitate any arrangements relating to the vice-president's travel," he said.
After consulting the Air Force commander, both agreed the aircraft had already been committed to the Kasambara itinerary and could not meet the proposed schedule.
Throughout his appearance, Kuwali sought to delineate his role, describing his involvement as "strictly administrative and facilitative", undertaken in good faith and confined to humanitarian support.
He insisted he did not participate in or influence any operational decisions.
The committee is hearing from four witnesses as it attempts to reconstruct the sequence of decisions preceding the crash.
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The testimony so far points to a system where humanitarian appeals, political expectations and military protocols intersected, but where lines of authority were not always clearly defined.
