The search for answers over the military plane crash that killed former Vice President Saulos Chilima took another emotional turn on Monday after his widow revealed troubling details about what happened after the tragedy.
Testifying under oath before a Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee, Mary Chilima said she only learnt more about her husband’s death through social media before receiving confirmation from former Principal Secretary Lucky Sikwese.
But beyond the painful way she received the news, Chilima also raised serious questions over the handling of crucial evidence, revealing that phones recovered from the crash scene were found broken.
While unable to confirm the exact details, she believed her husband owned three mobile phones. However, authorities only returned two of them a month after the crash, and both were broken despite repeated demands.
No compensation has been paid for damages arising from the June 10, 2024 plane crash that claimed nine lives in Nthunga Forest, Nkhata Bay.
Describing her husband as “health-conscious”, Chilima also questioned whether the pilots’ toxicology results were ever made public and expressed deep pain over the leaked images.
“What is sad is that pictures of our loved ones flooded the media… To find closure is not easy,” she said.
Shifting to the family’s day-to-day reality, Chilima noted that while her husband’s pension was cleared, the family is now treated as civilians.
State benefits remained in place under the previous government until after the September 2025 General Elections. The incumbent administration provided their family with security personnel only recently, after communicating with Deputy Minister of Homeland Security Norman Chisale.
She added that she was told the government plans to amend the President’s (Salaries and Benefits) Act so it can support widows who find themselves in the same situation.
She urged the government to assist the other victims’ families, noting grief impacts their lives differently.
Her appearance marks the latest development in a prolonged search for answers. The current parliamentary probe is the third investigation into the incident.
It followed an initial inquiry by Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), which seemingly failed to satisfy the public.
The BFU report attributed the crash to pilot error and three additional human factors, and it recommended that all Malawian aircraft be equipped with cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders.
