By Comrade Jumbe
On the 10th of June, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) government is preparing to erect a memorial pillar at Chikangawa—on the very soil where Vice President Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima and eight others tragically lost their lives in a plane crash.
But as the cement dries and the stones are laid, one question hangs heavier than the fog of Chikangawa: Can a nation truly honor the dead while hiding the truth?
This is not just a memorial. This is a moment of reckoning.
Imran Jumbe
We are still weeping as the nation, still questioning, still searching for answers that the government has refused to give. Instead of clarity, they are offered ceremonies. Instead of justice, they are offered stone. And yet, “no matter how long the night, the day is sure to come”—and with it, the truth must rise.
They are preparing for memorial yet no one tells us what really happened,before pillars of memorial at chikangawa the nation demanding to know these,
Where is the black box, the voice of the final moments?
Why was there no trace of blood or visible trauma on any of the victims—a chilling detail that defies the nature of such a crash?
Who informed President Chakwera that the plane reached Mzuzu and turned back due to fogs?
Why there was no any prominent member of Malawi congress party in the plane?
And perhaps most haunting of all, why was President Chakwera in Germany, meeting with those allegedly involved in the investigation, while the country cried out for answers?
These are not political questions. They are human questions. They are the cries of a grieving nation that refuses to be silenced.
It is deeply disheartening, and frankly embarrassing, that instead of facing the nation with transparency and truth, the government chooses symbolism. But “you cannot cover fire with ashes.” A memorial built on unanswered questions is not a symbol of honor—it is a monument to denial.
Before we set stone upon stone at Chikangawa, let us first lay the foundation of truth.
Let the black box speak. Let real forensic experts of genuine commission of enquiry testify. Let those in power account for their words and actions in those fateful hours.
We do not oppose remembrance by the government —we demand it. But remembrance without truth is a betrayal.
People are tired of pretending, We do not need staged grief. We need truth.
We need accountability. We need justice for Dr. Chilima, for the eight souls who perished with him, and for the generations watching, learning what kind of nation we are becoming.
The government must understand: it is not memorials that history remembers, but truth.
Until the truth is told, the pillar at Chikangawa will not stand as a symbol of honor. It will stand as a scar of silence, a wound disguised as tribute.
And Malawi will keep asking, keep remembering—not the ceremony, but the silence of truth that followed the crash.
Justice delayed is a nation betrayed.
MY PEN 🖊 IS MIGHTIER THAN A SWORD.
