By Burnett Munthali
Questions over when disaster authorities offered and deployed key search resources have put the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DODMA) under fresh scrutiny as the parliamentary inquiry into the June 10, 2024 plane crash continues.
The crash claimed the lives of former vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight other people after the Malawi Defence Force(MDF) aircraft they were travelling in went down in the Chikangawa Forest in Mzimba.
DODMA Commissioner Wilson Moleni and his team recently appeared before the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee investigating the crash, where lawmakers questioned the department’s response to the disappearance of the aircraft.
Walter Nyamilandu
Moleni, who was not heading DODMA at the time of the crash, told the committee that the department had a mapping aircraft available to support the search after learning that the MDF aircraft had gone missing.
He said DODMA notified the Office of the President and Cabinet(OPC ) at around 7pm on June 10 that the mapping aircraft could be deployed.
However, lawmakers raised questions over the account after an earlier DODMA report indicated that the mapping aircraft only attempted to join the search the following morning before turning back because of poor weather.
The discrepancy prompted concern from committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu, while Zomba Thondwe legislator Dumisani Lindani questioned why the aircraft was not deployed earlier.
Moleni told the committee that DODMA meet work with the Department of Civil Aviation to reconcile the conflicting information and provide a clearer account of what happened.
The committee also heard that DODMA assembled four drones after being instructed to support the search, with two of them fitted with thermal detection equipment.
However, the DODMA team reportedly arrived in the Viphya Plantation area at around 9am on June 11, by which time a Malawi University of Science and Technology(MUST ) team was already involved in search operations.
Police officer Lloyd Kamwendo, who participated in the search, described the operation as poorly coordinated and told the committee that key decisions were made by his superiors.
The inquiry has also received calls for additional witnesses to be heard.
Former Information Minister and Dedza Mulunduni MP Moses Kunkuyu has asked Parliament to allow Mwanza Central MP Felix Njawala and Mulanje West MP Patricia Kaliati to testify before the committee, arguing that people with relevant information should be given an opportunity to appear.
The latest inquiry was ordered by President Peter Mutharika in February 2026 after government raised concerns about gaps in previous investigations into the crash.
Earlier investigations attributed the accident to adverse weather and human factors, while a German aviation investigation reported difficulties in controlling the aircraft under challenging weather conditions.
The parliamentary inquiry is now examining evidence from different institutions and witnesses as it seeks to establish a fuller account of the events surrounding the crash and the subsequent search operation.
