Malawi Mourns
By Edward Rex
It is hard to bear and hard to swallow, with tears oozing without measure, as Malawi meets the hardest part of the moment in history after losing the Vice President, late Dr. Saulos Chilima, who died in a plane crash on June 10 2024 at Chikangawa Forest, together with other eight citizens.
The 10th of June will remain memorable. It started just like any other day of the week, and the late Vice President, together with eight others, were on a journey to Nkhatabay to attend the funeral ceremony of the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Ralph Kasambala, who died on, June 7th, 2024.
Early in the morning on 10th June, the late Dr. Chilima and eight others started off their journey boarding a military aircraft from Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe on their way to Mzuzu Airport where they were supposed to connect by road to Nkhatabay, the home of the late Kasambala, where the burial ceremony was taking place.
However, the plane carrying the late Vice President and the other eight individuals failed to land at Mzuzu Airport due to bad weather, and it was ultimately advised to return to Lilongwe.
As the plane was turning back to Lilongwe, something bad happened in Chikangawa Forest, in Mzimba District, as the plane failed to skip the misfortune. It was a plane crash that happened at Thungwa Hill in the forest and eventually took the lives of Dr. Saulos Chilima and the other eight people who were on board.
The news about the plane crash started like a mere talk in the street, with rumors circulating on various social media outlets claiming that the plane that carried the vice president and others was missing. Many people seemed not to believe such news; it was an issue not worthy of stealing a headline, bearing in mind that the country has never witnessed such a mishap.
But the issue started to take up the hearts of Malawians after the late night of the day, when President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera told Malawians that the plane that carrying the second in command was still nowhere to be seen. This was the moment when citizens started gathering a lot of fears and peeping through reality.
In his address, President Chakwera announced that he has ordered a search and rescue mission for the missing plane. People were shocked, and deeply concerned about the safety of the second citizen and eight others who were on board.
People in the country woke up the following day, June 11, with divided attention to hear more about the outcome of the searching mission and, on top of that, about the status of the vice president and others. People around Chikangawa Forest and other areas selflessly joined the government team, including the Malawi Defence Force, to search for the plane.
The news about the missing plane started to widen its wings and had gone beyond borders. Other countries, including the United States, immediately expressed their commitment to join the search and rescue mission.
Despite the fact that the plane was reported missing after quite a substantial period, people in the country were still optimistic that the passengers on board would be found alive, safe and sound. Such was the nation’s prayer.
It was closer to noon when people started to sense some signals of lost hope when the State House informed the nation that the President was scheduled to once again address Malawians on the issue pertaining to the missing plane.
Around afternoon, the Malawi leader gathered the courage to make the most shocking announcement: the plane that carried the vice president and eight other people was found crashed at Thungwa Hill in Chikangawa Forest, and no one in the plane has survived. People broke into tears.
President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera described the incidence as heartbreaking. People broke into uncontrollable tears.
“Words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is, and I can only imagine how much pain and anguish you all must be feeling at this time, as well as how pain and anguish you all will be feeling in the coming days and weeks as we mourn this terrible loss,” Chakwera said.
Following the shocking news, the Malawi leader declared a 21-day period of mourning and that the national flag would be flown at half-mast.
People could not believe that they have lost such a visionary leader Dr. Saulos Chilima, who was also the leader of the United Transformation Movement (UTM). The eight others were the former first lady Patricia Dzimbiri, Lucas Kampheni, Dan Kanyemba, Chisomo Chimaneni, Flora Selemani, Abdul Lapken, Owen Sambalopa, and Wales Aidin.
