Malawi: Police Shifted From Search to Recovery After Chilima Wreckage Found, Ex-IG Tells MPs

What the report says

Malawi’s former inspector general of police, Merlyne Yolamu, told a parliamentary ad-hoc committee that the police response to the June 2024 plane crash that killed former vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others was based on the information available at the time. According to the account reported by Nyasa Times and distributed by AllAfrica, she said her role was to direct the search and rescue effort through the police chain of command and to use the resources that could be quickly mobilized.

Yolamu said the police director of operations went to Malawi’s Northern Region on the morning of June 11, 2024, to work with the regional commissioner and officers already involved in the search for the missing aircraft. She said the police focus changed after the wreckage was found and the news was relayed back to her by senior officers. At that point, police moved from searching for the plane to helping secure the site and carrying out recovery work.

She also said police worked with the Malawi Defence Force and other stakeholders to transport the victims’ bodies after the wreckage was located. The committee is continuing its investigation into how authorities handled the tragedy, and further testimony was expected from current Inspector General Richard Luhanga and former regional police deputy commissioner Glinton Mitaye. The hearing matters because the crash remains a major national event and the inquiry is examining whether the official response was appropriate.