The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) fears that delaying to name of an independent and inclusive commission of inquiry into that tragic accident that saw the loss of Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others, is creating a fertile ground for gossip.
CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa has since called on President Lazarus Chakwera to immediately institute a credible public inquiry looking at the fact that Malawians are seeking answers to their many unanswered questions regarding the plane crash accident to heal their broken hearts and find closure.
Namiwa is urging Chakwera to immediately institute an independent commission of inquiry whose membership, among others, should include the international community, representatives from both the bereaved families and the UTM Party leadership.
He says the calls are given the magnitude and sensitivity of the probe into the military plane crash that claimed the lives of Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima and former First Lady Dr. Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri and seven others in Chikangawa Forest on June 10.
“CDEDI wishes to urge President Lazarus Chakwera to ensure that the noble work of the German experts who are in the country to investigate the causes of the tragic accident is complemented by an independent and inclusive commission of inquiry,” said Namiwa
He added that President Chakwera should know that the experts’ work will help Malawians get answers to their many unanswered questions towards healing their broken hearts only if the investigators have credible reports of the sequence of events that happened before, during and after the tragic accident.
Namiwa went on to say that it is surprising that Chakwera has rushed into engaging the foreign investigators before putting in place a commission of inquiry, which desirably ought to closely work with the investigators.
He has requested that Chakwera should not depart from the norm—that national tragedies of such nature are immediately followed by the naming of an independent commission of inquiry for the sake of healing Malawians’ broken hearts.
State House press office has yet to respond to questionnaires so we sought their side of the story.
By Lommie Chiwalo
