The commission of inquiry has followed President Lazarus Chakwera’s directive to publish the report that is detailing circumstances that led to the plane crash that killed former vice president Saulos Chilima and eight others on June 10 this year.
The eight are former first lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri, Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy chief of staff Abdul Lapukeni, Chilima’s medical officer Dan Kanyemba, guard commander Lukas Kapheni and aide-de-camp Chisomo Chimaneni.
Operators of the aircraft, namely pilot-in-command Colonel Owen Sambalopa, second-in- command Major Flora Selemani- Ngwinjili and engineer Major Wallace Aidini also died in the crash.
On Thursday last week, Chakwera directed the commission to publish the inquiry report from Monday this week.
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Chakwera made the directive after receiving the report from the commission at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe.
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Judge Jabbar Alide, who chaired the commission, submitted the report in the company of other commissioners.
The President further ordered that the report should be published in all languages of the country.
“I wish to direct that a hard copy of this report be delivered to each of the bereaved families who lost loved ones in that plane crash, and I would like that to be done by the close of business tomorrow [Friday].
“Following that submission, I’d like us to allow the families to have the whole weekend to go through the report, and then from Monday next week, you may go ahead and publish the report in several of our country’s languages,” he said.
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According to Chakwera, the move was aimed at allowing the public to appreciate the contents of the report on their own.
“In the meantime, in my own reading of the report, I will be paying special attention to the recommendations you have made and I will make known my decisions on the findings and recommendations in due course,” he said.
However, The Daily Times has only seen the English version of the report, with reports in vernacular languages not available in the public space yet.
Last week, Alide commended Chakwera for instituting the commission, saying it showcased his commitment to ensuring transparency and accountability.
“I would like to thank President Lazarus Chakwera and Secretary to the President and Cabinet [Coleen Zamba] for providing us with all the resources that we needed so that our work could be conducted effectively. This was crucial,” he said.
He said there was proper scrutiny of the witnesses who were interviewed to establish factors that led to the plane crash.
“The inquiry we conducted is an inquiry of the people not us, as a commission, because the report we have submitted is bringing to light what people told us in their testimonies. I was not at Chikangawa [in Nkhata Bay District] when the accident happened, likewise the other commissioners, but we have come up with the report based on the testimonies the people gave us,” he said.
Chakwera appointed the commission in October this year.
The commission, which initially had 19 commissioners but later had 17 following the resignation of Silvester Namiwa and Pastor Tony Nyirenda, released the report to the public in Lilongwe on Saturday two weeks ago.
