Malawi: Nthakomwa - I Knew Chilima Was Dead. Chakwera Said Nothing

A witness appearing before Malawi's parliamentary inquiry into the Chikangawa plane crash has told the committee that he received detailed information about the fate of the aircraft carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima hours before the government made any public announcement -- including a call from a retired military general who described in striking detail how the plane had come down.

Moses Nthakomwa, an acquaintance of the late vice president, gave testimony to the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee investigating the 10 June 2024 military plane crash that killed Chilima and eight others, as the inquiry continues to piece together the circumstances surrounding one of Malawi's most significant political tragedies.

Nthakomwa told the committee that he had been travelling to Nkhata Bay when he noticed a series of missed calls and messages.

He said he returned a call from a Captain Charles first, and was informed that the vice president's aircraft had gone missing at around 10:00am.

When he checked the time, he said, it was already 2:36pm -- meaning more than four hours had elapsed since the aircraft reportedly disappeared, with no official information having been made public.

Then, at approximately 8:19pm, came a call that would stay with him through the night.

Nthakomwa told the committee that retired Major General John Msonthi telephoned him and opened the conversation by offering his condolences for the loss of his friend.

Nthakomwa said he was immediately confused -- as far as he knew, the aircraft had not yet been found.

But Msonthi, he told the committee, went further.

The retired general allegedly said the wreckage had already been located, and described in specific terms how the aircraft's wing had struck a tree before the plane slid approximately 80 metres uphill.

The account deeply disturbed him, Nthakomwa said -- but he chose to keep it to himself.

"I did not want to cause unnecessary panic," he told the committee, adding that he doubted the accuracy of what he had been told and did not share the information with anyone, including Chilima's bereaved family.

It was only the following morning, when President Lazarus Chakwera addressed the nation and officially confirmed that the aircraft had been found with no survivors, that Nthakomwa said he accepted the information as true.

The testimony raises pointed questions about what senior figures within government and the military knew in the immediate aftermath of the crash, and when they knew it -- and why that information did not reach the public, or the families of those killed, until the following day.

The committee is expected to continue hearing testimonies as it works to establish a full account of events surrounding the disaster.

Read the original article on Nyasa Times.

Malawi: Nthakomwa - I Knew Chilima Was Dead. Chakwera Said Nothing

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