Death is painful. It leaves behind grief, confusion and questions. When tragedy strikes suddenly, people naturally seek explanations.
Sometimes, however, grief creates a temptation to insist on answers that satisfy emotions rather than the available facts.
Two years after the military plane crash that claimed the lives of then Vice-President Saulos Klaus Chilima and eight others, Malawi appears no closer to finding closure. If anything, the country seems to be drifting further away from it.
The search for answers has gradually turned into a national spectacle in which many appear convinced that someone must ultimately be implicated.
The possibility that the tragedy resulted from a combination of unfortunate circumstances and institutional failures seems unacceptable to some.
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Yet closure cannot be built on predetermined conclusions.
The German investigation concluded that severe weather and pilot error were the principal causes of the crash.
The report also exposed shocking negligence within the Malawi Defence Force. The aircraft lacked cockpit voice and flight data recorders, while its Emergency Locator Transmitter failed because its battery had expired in 2004.
Those findings painted a disturbing picture of systemic failures.
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But for many, they were not enough.
Some immediately dismissed the conclusions. It appeared that certain people already have their own answers and are simply looking for evidence to support them.
Facts that contradict those beliefs are treated with suspicion, while information that reinforces them is readily embraced.
That is not how truth is established.
The parliamentary inquiry that is currently being conducted was supposed to provide additional clarity.
Yet the proceedings are clearly creating the impression that even some Members of Parliament (MPs) are uncertain about the true purpose of their task.
At times, the hearings have resembled political theatre rather than a disciplined search for facts.
Far from bringing closure, the MPs’ report may simply create another circus. It may generate fresh controversies and competing interpretations, leaving the country exactly where it started.
Closure becomes impossible when every answer gives rise to more conspiracy theories.
Certainly, some revelations emerging from the hearings deserve attention. Questions surrounding administrative delays and shortcomings in aviation systems point to serious institutional weaknesses that require reforms.
But responsibility is not the same as satisfying a collective desire for villains.
There is a difference between identifying negligence and searching for wrongdoing where none exists. Unfortunately, public debate increasingly blurs that distinction.
In all this, the problem may not be the absence of answers. It may be the refusal to accept answers that do not fit preconceived expectations.
This is why closure remains elusive.
One also cannot ignore the politics surrounding the entire affair. There is simply too much political interest for one to dismiss concerns that some are already viewing the tragedy through an electoral lens.
One would be forgiven for concluding that there are those who see the death Chilima not only as a national tragedy but also as a political tool for the 2030 elections.
Such exploitation would be unfortunate.
The dead deserve dignity, not political appropriation. Their families deserve peace, not endless public battles. The country deserves healing, not perpetual suspicion.
Unfortunately, what is unfolding says something profound about us as a society.
We have become increasingly obsessed with truths that serve our interests. Too often, we decide what we want to believe first and then demand that reality conform to those preferences.
When facts refuse to cooperate, we question the facts rather than ourselves.
It is a troubling tendency.
Truth does not exist to comfort emotions. Facts are not obliged to satisfy political loyalties. Reality is under no obligation to conform to popular opinion.
Sometimes the hardest truth to accept is that accidents happen. Institutions fail. Human beings make mistakes. Nature can be unforgiving. Not every tragedy contains a hidden mastermind.
Accepting such realities does not diminish the significance of those who died. Nor does it excuse negligence where negligence existed.
Rather, it allows a nation to mourn honestly and move forward.
Malawi can and should demand accountability. It can and should insist on reforms. It can and should ask difficult questions.
But difficult questions should not become an endless search for answers that only exist in our imagination.
At some point, a country must decide whether it seeks the truth or merely the comfort of a preferred narrative.
Perhaps that, more than the crash itself, is the question Malawi must confront.
