President Lazarus Chakwera says he does not understand what happened to his vice president, Saulos Chilima. His remarks could land him in trouble if the police follow the advice of the Commission of Inquiry, which recommended that anyone questioning its findings should be arrested.
Chakwera, who only appointed the Commission of Inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident following public pressure, was presented with the commission’s report. The commission advised the Malawi Police to arrest anyone spreading claims about Chilima’s death beyond its official findings.
However, the commission exceeded its mandate by making such a recommendation, raising concerns that there may have been foul play in Chilima’s death.
On Wednesday during the launch of a foundation established in honour of Chilima, his widow, Mrs Mary Chilima, expressed her doubts about the official findings.
“There are still many unanswered questions regarding those 24 hours, and so far, efforts to address these concerns have fallen short of being satisfactory,” she explained.
Similarly today, Chakwera reiterated that he still does not understand what happened to Chilima and that only God knows.
His statement has raised eyebrows with social media commentators questioning why he would make such a claim despite having received a copy of the commission’s report.
“I thought he [President Chakwera] got a report from that Commission of Inquiry?” queried Onjenzani Kenani on X (formerly Twitter).
After the inquiry report was released, President Chakwera told the Nation to move on and come to terms with what he called ‘ the truth’.
Precios Dzoole commented on Facebook, “Yesterday he urged us to accept the results of the commission of inquiry, meaning he got satisfied with the report; he truly understood all the circumstances that led to the tragic death of his then Veep and others. Today, he is saying he doesn’t understand what happened on that fateful day. Wow wow.”
Also commenting on Facebook, Alfred Mshani said “Dramatic turn of events
Commission of Enquiry gave a half-baked report to the president. He doesn’t understand it”.
The report by the commission failed to answer the questions and quickly pre-empted the discourse by trying to blame the deceased who could not refute anything
The majority of people said the Commission’s report offered a narrative with a lack of depth, transparency, and a failure to hold the relevant authorities accountable.
