Aircraft Carrying Malawi's Vice President Goes Missing

The government of Malawi announced on Monday that a search operation is underway for a missing aircraft carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine other people.

Vice President Chilima was aboard a Malawi Defense Force aircraft that departed from the capital, Lilongwe, at 9:17 a.m. The flight was destined for Mzuzu, a city in the north of the country, less than an hour away by air. However, the aircraft missed its scheduled landing and vanished from radar, leaving aviation authorities unable to make contact.

Chilima was traveling to attend the funeral of former attorney general Ralph Kasambara. According to Lucky Sikwese, an aide in the vice president’s office, severe weather in Mzuzu prevented the plane from landing.

"The Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed that it has not landed at any of the airports," Sikwese said. As night fell, authorities had not located a potential crash site. Military and police officers continued searching by vehicle and on foot, struggling to navigate the dense forests of northern Malawi, local media reported.

In response, President Lazarus Chakwera launched a search and rescue operation involving both national and regional agencies, the government stated. President Chakwera also canceled a planned trip to the Bahamas to oversee the rescue efforts.

Vice President Chilima, 51, transitioned from a successful career in telecommunications to politics a decade ago. In late 2022, he faced a corruption scandal and was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau on charges of receiving kickbacks from a businessman in return for government contracts. Chilima denied any wrongdoing, but the allegations cast a shadow over a government committed to tackling corruption in one of Africa’s poorest nations. Last month, the charges against him were dropped, and the case was closed.

Chilima had been expected to run for the Malawian presidency in the 2025 election. Once political adversaries, President Chakwera and Vice President Chilima formed a coalition in 2019 after a disputed election. They successfully challenged the results, and a judicial panel ruled in their favor, leading to a victorious rerun in 2020 with both men on the same ticket.