“MDF chief told me Chakwera approved use of military aircraft for Chilima’s trip”-says ex-defence Minister
By Burnett Munthali
LILONGWE- (MaraviPost)-Former Minister of Defence Harry Mkandawire has told a commission of inquiry into the military plane crash that a senior Malawi Defence Force officer informed him that former President Lazarus Chakwera had approved the use of an MDF aircraft for Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others to travel to the funeral of Ralph Kasambara in Nkhata Bay.
Mkandawire told the inquiry that he received this information on the night of 9 June 2024.
He said he then contacted former Chief Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet, Colleen Zamba, to inquire about condolence money to be delivered at Kasambara’s funeral, as he had been assigned by Chakwera to represent him at the event.
He testified that Zamba informed him there had been an arrangement for MK5 million in condolence money from the President’s Office to be taken to the funeral by Chilima.
Mkandawire also told the committee that only one aircraft in the MDF fleet is fitted with a black box, and that the aircraft involved in the crash did not have one.