Suleman Chitera 
Reported By Kenneth Bwanali
LILONGWE — A fresh eyewitness account has added another dramatic layer to Parliament’s investigation into the June 10, 2024 Chikangawa plane crash, after a woman from Nthungwa told the Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Committee that two soldiers chased her away from a forest area shortly before the aircraft crashed.
Mrs Florence Mkandawire told the committee that she had gone into the forest to collect firewood when she encountered the two soldiers.
According to her testimony, the soldiers were close to the area where the Malawi Defence Force aircraft later crashed, raising questions about who was in the vicinity during the crucial period surrounding the tragedy.
She said the two soldiers ordered her to leave the area, forcing her to retreat.
Her account comes as the parliamentary inquiry continues to examine what happened before, during and after the aircraft carrying former Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others went down at Nthungwa in the Chikangawa area.
WHO WERE THE TWO SOLDIERS?
Mkandawire’s testimony immediately raises a series of questions that investigators will have to answer.
Who were the two soldiers?
Why were they in that particular part of the forest?
What were they doing there?
How close were they to the eventual crash location?
And critically, was their presence connected to routine military activity, the search operation, or something else?
At this stage, Mkandawire’s evidence establishes only what she says she personally witnessed. It does not, on its own, establish that the two soldiers had any involvement in the crash.
That distinction will be crucial as the committee weighs her testimony against other witness statements, military records, search-and-rescue accounts and technical evidence.
AN INQUIRY UNDER INTENSE SCRUTINY
The parliamentary committee was established to conduct a fresh investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash, with Parliament’s stated investigative programme including forensic work, aviation safety and security assessment, evidence gathering and validation.
Previous committee hearings have already produced sharply contrasting witness accounts, including testimony that has been questioned by MPs and compared against technical information concerning the aircraft’s flight path.
That makes every new eyewitness account potentially significant—but also makes corroboration essential.
Mkandawire’s account will therefore need to be tested against the established timeline and evidence from other witnesses.
THE QUESTIONS MALAWI STILL WANTS ANSWERED
The deaths of Chilima and the eight other people aboard the aircraft remain one of the most consequential tragedies in Malawi’s recent history.
The parliamentary inquiry now has the responsibility of separating verified evidence from assumption, eyewitness observation from interpretation, and coincidence from demonstrable fact.
Mrs Mkandawire’s testimony has put two soldiers into the narrative surrounding the final moments before the crash.
Whether that detail proves significant—or ultimately has an innocent explanation—is for the committee’s investigation and evidence to establish.
But one thing is clear:
The questions surrounding what happened in Nthungwa before the aircraft came down are far from exhausted.
Malawi is waiting for answers.
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