Suleman Chitera 
By Suleman Chitera, MFN Reporter
29 September 2026, Time : 09:17 AM
Questions over the handling of mobile phones belonging to victims of the 10 June 2024 Chikangawa plane crash have emerged as a major issue in Parliament’s fresh inquiry into the tragedy.
The Malawi Air Force Dornier 228 aircraft crashed in the Chikangawa Forest at approximately 10:16 a.m. on Monday, 10 June 2024, killing former Vice-President Saulos Chilima and eight other people.
One of the most troubling questions now before the Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee is what happened to the victims’ mobile phones between the time they were recovered from the crash site and the time they were handed back to their families.
Mary Chilima, widow of the late Vice-President, told the inquiry that she received two of her husband’s phones about one month after the crash, following repeated efforts to have them returned.
She said the phones were badly broken, raising questions about why they had remained in custody for such a long period.
The case of Dr Dan Kanyemba has raised even more questions.
Kanyemba’s widow, Effiness Katunga Kanyemba, told the inquiry that she attempted to call her husband at around 4:00 p.m. on 10 June 2024, approximately six hours after the aircraft crashed.
According to her testimony, the phone rang but nobody answered.
When she tried again, the phone was no longer reachable.
She later received the device, but said it was in a condition beyond repair.
This testimony is significant because telecommunications records presented to the inquiry show that Kanyemba’s phone had remained traceable after the aircraft disappeared.
TNM officials told the parliamentary committee that Kanyemba’s phone had its last recorded connection with the network at Nthungwa Tower at 10:16 a.m. on 10 June 2024—the same time investigators have established that the aircraft’s navigation system stopped recording its position.
There was also a separate telecommunications trail involving Major Wales Aidin.
According to TNM testimony, Aidin’s phone showed its last connection at the Mzimba turn-off at 11:11 a.m. on 10 June 2024. Only two phones linked to passengers were identified through TNM’s network records.
The phone issue therefore raises a fundamental question:
Who broke the phones of the deceased?
At this stage, the evidence publicly presented to Parliament does not establish that a particular person deliberately damaged any of the phones.
What the testimony establishes is that some devices were recovered, some were returned late, at least one was reportedly missing, and several were returned in badly damaged condition.
The parliamentary inquiry will therefore need to establish the complete chain of custody for each device.
That means determining:
- Who recovered each phone at the crash site;
- The exact date and time each phone was recovered;
- Who first took possession of the devices;
- Where the phones were kept;
- Whether they were examined or subjected to forensic analysis;
- Whether any information was extracted from them;
- Who authorised their release; and
- When and to whom each phone was eventually returned.
The timing of Dr Kanyemba’s phone is particularly important.
His widow says she called at approximately 4:00 p.m. on 10 June 2024, and the phone rang. Yet the aircraft had already crashed at about 10:16 a.m.
That does not, by itself, prove that the phone was physically with the crash victim at 4:00 p.m., nor does it establish who may have possessed it. But it is a factual discrepancy that investigators can potentially examine through telecommunications records and the chain of custody.
The inquiry is already examining the telecommunications response immediately after the aircraft disappeared. Former Airtel Malawi managing director Charles Kamoto told the committee that additional phone numbers were supplied to Airtel at 2:43 p.m. on 10 June 2024 as officials tried to trace people aboard the aircraft. Kanyemba’s number was reportedly ringing but unanswered.
These timelines give the parliamentary inquiry several precise points to investigate—from the aircraft’s final recorded position at 10:16 a.m., to the telecommunications activity later that day, including the 4:00 p.m. call reported by Kanyemba’s widow.
For the families of the nine victims, the issue is bigger than damaged mobile devices.
The phones potentially contained calls, messages, photographs, contacts, location information and other digital evidence. Establishing who handled them, when they were handled and what happened to them could therefore be important to understanding the events surrounding the tragedy.
Until the full chain of custody is established, it would be premature to identify a person responsible for damaging the phones.
But one question remains firmly before the inquiry:
Who broke the phones of the Chikangawa crash victims—and what happened to them between 10 June 2024 and the day they were returned to their families?
