Saulos Chilima: Malawi vice president and nine others die after plane crash

Saulos Chilima, 51, was travelling from the capital of Lilongwe at 9.17am bound for Mzuzu International Airport, which was due to be a short 45-minute trip. However, the plane which he was travelling on disappeared from the radar and failed to land at the airport, which is located around 230 miles from the take-off point.

Malawian president Lazarus Chakwera launched an immediate search operation and cancelled a scheduled trip to the Bahamas. The plane dropped off of the radar as it was travelling over the Viphya mountain range, where the search is being concentrated. According to local media, soldiers, police and other emergency services were involved in the search.

Mr Chilima’s disappearance comes after he had been facing corruption charges which were dropped by prosecutors last month. He had been accused of receiving money in return for influencing the awarding of government contracts, an allegation he denied. While the charges have now been dropped, he made several court appearances in relation to the allegations, however it never reached trial.

He was elected alongside Mr Chakwera in 2020 after the pair ran successful together on a ticket during the election rerun. It came after Mr Chilima came third in the 2019 election and Mr Chakwera finished second being beat by incumbent Peter Mutharika, but this result was annulled by Malawi’a Constitutional Court because of voting irregulars.