By Vincent Gunde
Malawians that are following Human Rights Advocator Sir Charles Ben Longwe’s audios are questioning themselves where was he all the time as many Malawians were questioning circumstances surrounding the death of Dr. Saulosi Chilima and eight others, in the Chikangawa forest on Monday, 10th June, 2024.
Ben Longwe is coming with audios dubbed “University of Hard Knocks” where he is linking the death of Dr. Saulosi Chilima and that of Samora Machel, Mozambican President who perished in a plane tragedy on 19th October, 1986 in Mbozine-Swaziland enroute to Maputo, Mozambique from Lusaka in Zambia.
He said there are similarities being observed in the two distinguished leaders Dr. Chilima and Samora Machel that they both died in a tragic plane crash, there planes went missing on the ladders and both died without their spouses in the planes.
In his first clip released, Ben Longwe faulted the Commission of Inquiry that was instituted by President Dr. Lazarus wrong for releasing their findings without questioning key figures such as President Chakwera, Minister of Defense, Army Commander and Madame Mary Chilima, among others.
Ben Longwe said it took at least two years for Samora Machel inquiry to release their findings but in Malawi, a month and some days for the results to be released in a race against time to clean themselves before the country goes to the polls on 16th September, 2025.
He said the Mozambican inquiry questioned Madam Gracia Machel on what she knows best about the death of her husband and who were the prime suspects which she responded Peter.W. Botha of South Africa and Hastings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi.
The Human Rights Advocator said at the Mzuzu Airport, there was one person who was there to welcome Dr. Chilima and the convoy was waiting for him to be carried to Nkhatabay to mourn his long- time friend, Ralph Kasambala whose death is also not clear and Winnie Nyondo who wrote there was turbulence in the plane, observing that these two, were not interviewed.
He said it took to the intervention of the court for the Black Box to be released to the public on the plane which carried Samora Machel who on that fateful 19th October, 1986 was travelling back to Mozambique to attend the birthday of his wife, Gracia Machel.
“Malawians were asked to keep quiet, but we cannot keep quiet, Dr. Chilima was not just a mere figure or a minister, he was the Vice President of the Republic of Malawi,” said Longwe.
He said another similarity in both planes were that they lost signals and this made the pilot to have no option but to have an emergency landing or else land in a foreign country but on a sad note, the two planes crashed meaning that there were some people on the ground who deliberately made the two planes to lose their signal towers.
