Malawi’s Vice President, Saulos Klaus Chilima, has tragically passed away. A press release from the Malawi Government, signed by Secretary Colleen Zamba, confirms the devastating news, stating that Vice President Chilima lost his life in a plane crash.
Yesterday, the aircraft carrying Chilima, vanished from radar screens, prompting a frantic search effort by the government.
Chilima, aged 51, was among ten individuals aboard a military plane that departed from Lilongwe, the capital, at 09:17 a.m. (0717 GMT), as confirmed by Malawi’s Office of the President and Cabinet in an earlier statement.
Despite efforts by aviation authorities to establish communication with the aircraft after it disappeared from radar, all attempts proved unsuccessful.
The scheduled landing time at Mzuzu Airport, set for 10:02 a.m., passed without any sign of the plane.
President Lazarus Chakwera, addressing the nation via a televised broadcast, disclosed that the aircraft was unable to land at Mzuzu Airport due to poor visibility, compelling it to reroute back to the capital.
Chilima, widely viewed as a potential presidential candidate in the forthcoming election, had faced allegations of corruption in 2022, leading to his arrest.
However, last month, a Malawian court dismissed the corruption charges against him after the director of public prosecutions filed a notice for the case’s discontinuation. Chilima has consistently denied any involvement in wrongdoing.
Political life
The late Chilima emerged from the private sector when Airtel sought to establish operations in Malawi. President Mbingu wa Mutharika insisted that the CEO must be a Malawian, leading to Chilima securing the position.
Following President Mutharika’s passing while in office, his vice president, Joyce Banda, assumed leadership of Malawi.
Despite taking over the reins, Banda faced resistance from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the president’s party, prompting her to establish her own political party.
In the subsequent presidential election, the DPP nominated the late president’s brother, Peter Mutharika, as their candidate, with Chilima as his running mate. Despite this, tensions within the party led to Chilima being marginalized within the presidency.
Anticipating exclusion from the ticket in the reelection campaign, Chilima formed the United Transformation Movement (UTM) and ran against his former boss.
However, in the initial round of voting, Mutharika claimed victory, with Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party coming in second, and Chilima placing third.
Mutharika’s election victory, however, was nullified by the high court, leading to a repeat election which saw Chakwera and Chilima forming a coalition that ousted the DPP from power.
In the new government, Chilima once again assumed the role of vice president, this time under President Lazarus Chakwera. However, the challenges from his time in the DPP persisted, as Chilima faced allegations of corruption and was subsequently arrested and charged in court by members of the president’s camp.
