26/06/2026
STOP IT! ๐The Chilima Crash: We need to move on! Who Killed the Vice President if not our own negligence? WHAT ENQUIRY? ๐คฆ๐ฝโโ๏ธ๐
This is a long one, but listen!
The death of Vice President Saulos Chilima and the others on board was a national tragedy. There is no question about that. But we need to stop treating every death of a public figure as proof of a conspiracy. Instead, we should focus on the facts that have already been established and ask how Malawi can prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
Here are the facts:
The weather conditions were poor, making the flight more challenging. โ
The aircraft involved was a Dornier 228-228(K), manufactured in 1986. Around 370 were built and about 54 crashed, 205 deaths worldwide over its decades of service.โ
The official inquiry found serious shortcomings in the aircraft's maintenance and airworthiness, concluding that it was not fit for service. โ
Reports also indicated that the aircraft's Certificate of Airworthiness had expired in 2004. Not news we see MDF vehicles not fit for road use still driving around, nobody cares โ
The emergency battery was reportedly non-functional, no maintenance, MDF said they had no spare parts or budget for repairs. โ
The search and rescue operation relied heavily on assistance from Zambian Airforce, highlighting weaknesses in Malawi's own emergency response capability. โ
These are not conspiracy theories. They are governance, maintenance, and operational failures.
It is also incorrect to suggest that military aircraft cannot have flight recorders. While some military aircraft do not carry them because of their operational role, many military transport aircraft around the world are equipped with Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVRs) and Flight Data Recorders (FDRs). A transport aircraft regularly used to carry VIPs in Malawi should have these. How will ever fight Malawi? ๐คฃ๐คท๐พโโ๏ธ
The handling of the crisis also raises legitimate questions. Many Malawians expected more frequent communication from the government while the Vice President's aircraft was missing. We know who the President was, he could not do his job. He waited 9 hours to wake up โ
The plane was old and poorly maintained โ
If we truly want to honour those who lost their lives, our priority should not be endless speculation. It should be demanding stronger aviation oversight, proper aircraft maintenance, transparent leadership, better-equipped search and rescue capabilities, and higher safety standards for every aircraft carrying public officials.
The greatest lesson from this tragedy is not that somebody killed Chilima. It is that Malawi cannot afford to ignore safety, maintenance, and accountability any longer.
By the way, do we even have a functional plane? Why did we have to wait on a Zambian Airforce helicopter?
