(Crux. Ngala Killian Chimtom).
YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – In an address to the nation June 11, Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera announced the death of the country’s Vice President Saulos Chilima, described as a “devout Catholic” by Church leaders. Chilima was killed along with nine others in a military plane that crashed at a hill near Lunjika Turn Off in Chikangawa forest plantations in Mzimba.
“Something terrible went wrong with that aircraft on its way back to Lillongwe, sending it crashing down and killing everyone on board, and leaving us all devastated and asking ourselves questions whose answers cannot take away the pain and the helplessness we feel from this loss,” the president told the nation from Kamuzu Palace, the country’s presidential residence. The military plane on Monday June 10 left the Kamuzu International Airport with the Vice President and nine others, including the crew. The aircraft was to land at the Mzuzu International Airport, approximately 230 miles to the north of the country. Chilima was going “to attend the funeral of Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, late Honourable Ralph Kasambara,” in the words of the president.