By Comrade Jumbe | June 10, 2025
Today marks one year since our nation was shaken to its core. On June 10, 2024, we lost Vice President Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima and eight other patriotic Malawians in a plane crash that left more questions than answers.
As the nation still mourns, we take this solemn moment to honour their memory, their sacrifice, and their unwavering dedication to the Republic of Malawi.
Dr. Chilima was more than a Vice President. He was a visionary, a reformist, a man with unmatched passion for change.
He was a voice for the voiceless, an embodiment of hope for a new Malawi. I remember vividly—having known him personally—how he once confided in me, saying: “The Malawi Congress Party will fight me heavily, and I see it coming.” Those words now echo like prophecy fulfilled.
As we reflect on the tragic loss, we remember not just Chilima but the eight other souls whose names must never be forgotten: men and women of service, love for country, and integrity. We salute them. Their legacy must inspire the path we take forward as a nation.
But remembrance alone is not enough. Mourning must be coupled with a pursuit for justice and truth.
The Nation Demands the Black Box
It is unacceptable—mathematically absurd, scientifically questionable, and intellectually insulting—to claim that the aircraft which carried the Vice President of the Republic had no black box. Such a statement is not only childish, but it disregards the intelligence of Malawians and dismisses the gravity of the tragedy that unfolded.
Today, we demand that the Malawi Congress Party (MCP)—the party in power during the crash—produce the black box and all flight records.
Furthermore, all recordings from the black box, including audio of the cockpit communications prior to the crash, must be aired live on national television and radio. Malawians deserve to know what happened. We are not children. We are citizens of a sovereign nation. We are owed the truth.
Accountability, Not Silence
The refusal or failure to release this vital information is tantamount to betrayal. If the Malawi Congress Party fails to provide transparency on this matter, it must not only face electoral defeat on 16th September—it must face calls for its disbandment as a political entity in the Republic of Malawi. No party should survive if its legacy includes denying justice to its people.
The tragic loss of Dr. Chilima and others should not become another forgotten chapter. It must become a turning point. A wake-up call. An example of what happens when truth is suppressed. Silence is complicity. The blood of our leaders cannot dry without answers.
A Nation in Mourning, A Nation Demanding Truth
Malawi is still in mourning, yes. But it is not a mourning rooted in helplessness—it is a mourning that is rising into a movement for accountability.
We will remember Saulos Klaus Chilima not just as the Vice President who perished, but as the leader who represented the hope of a transformed Malawi. And the best way to honour him is not through tears alone, but through action. Through courage. Through demanding truth, justice, and national dignity.
Let June 10th not be remembered only for tragedy—but also for the day the people of Malawi stood tall, unshaken, and demanded truth.
Rest in power, Dr. Chilima. Rest in power, our fallen heroes. Your dreams for Malawi will never die.
My pen 🖊 is mightier than a sword
