BY DR LAZARUS CHAKWERA
The Commission of Inquiry instituted to establish events around the June 10 plane accident has finally submitted its final report to my office today.
I have since instructed the Commission to present hard copies of the report to all bereaved families by close of business tomorrow, followed by a wider reach to the entire nation next Monday.
Let me express deep gratitude to the Commission for carrying out its work with the dedication and honour this noble task deserved.
The work you have done has exposed you to a lot of misunderstanding and abuse, not only because you have been investigating a politically sensitive subject that some will inevitably see as an occasion for political theatre, but also because the nation’s wounds from the tragedy have not yet fully healed.
But as mature citizens of Malawi entrusted with this enormous duty, I fully trust that you will not take those attacks to heart.
In the meantime, in my own reading of the report, I will be paying special attention to the recommendations you have made and I will make known my decisions on the findings and recommendations in due course.
It is with a heavy heart that we are witnessing this circus unravelling before our eyes and yet the much needed answers and solutions haven’t been gotten. As stated by some of the relatives who lost their loved ones, I would agree with them that it is premature to comment on something you haven’t laid your hands on. But let me assure fellow Malawians that this matter will be pursued to the very end until the truth comes to light no matter the time frame.
On that fateful day, much as the weather was bad, there were people around the vicinity where the plane came down. whether this crash had criminal intentions or natural, the bottomline is there were 2 watchmen at the mobile phone tower, a village is so close and the M1 road runs nearby the scene of the crash. A normal person should have heard the sound of a falling flying object and instantly rushed to the scene to investigate. You can not discern why those around were unable to hear or see all that happening in broad day light. It could have been different if everything occurred at night. Surprisingly, the area is an open place that can be seen from a distance. Actually, passengers in a minibus travelling on the road could see the wreckage.
Based on the actions that took place after it was reported that a plane was missing, up to the time it was certified that the missing plane had crashed, the series of events weighed against the reaction leaves huge yawning gaps and unanswered questions. All those lukewarm indecision even paints a murky picture, doubting the competence and desire to assist from the government side. It is due to all those reasons that makes the whole exercise untenable at this juncture.
Surprisingly, this report has mentioned that some political parties had the audacity to share the spoils of the accident by distributing money amongst themselves towards the funerals etc. I am mentioning this because I want to bring to the attention of Malawians that when we were at a loss, trying to piece together what had happened to our relative, one of my nephews went to check with the government side in order to establish what the process would be like, only to meet Moses Kunkuyu who said you need to buy a casket in order for the body of your brother to be released. The thing is not that we couldn’t afford a casket for our relative to rest in, but considering that he died in line of duty we thought the government he was serving prior to his death should have been responsible for all that. There we were grieving our relative, at Capital Hill offices other politicians were busy celebrating over this misfortune and sharing public money disguised as money to help the deceased families. This was disgusting and very shameful that the whole government machinery was incapable of providing a mere casket for it’s own employee who had list his life on duty, really? With all those anomalies, shortcomings etc, we forced to deeply think that this government can therefore not be trusted. With all that, it brings our resolve to see to the end this matter which has left us confounded and dismay with actions, care, responsibility, and assistance lacking by the offices supposedly meant to have played a leading role. This is shameful and despicable.