He died two years ago... Exhuming the remains of the former vice president sparks controversy in Malawi

Written by: Mohamed Abdellah

The Malawian parliament has announced plans to exhume the remains of former Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others who died in a June 2024 military plane crash in northern Malawi, as part of a renewed parliamentary inquiry into the disaster that killed all nine passengers aboard the Malawian Defence Forces Dornier 228.

Conducting post-mortem examinations

A parliamentary statement said that exhuming the remains would allow forensic experts to conduct post-mortem examinations that were not carried out when the victims' bodies were recovered in 2024.

The plane crashed in the Chikangawa Forest Reserve in northern Malawi on June 10, 2024, while en route from Lilongwe to Mzuzu.

All nine passengers, including Chillema and former First Lady Patricia Chanel Mulozzi, were killed in what is considered one of the worst aviation disasters in the country's history.

The parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the plane crash announced that the delayed autopsies would be part of three parallel investigations expected to begin in mid-May 2026, a decision that raised questions among aviation safety experts about why the examinations were not carried out immediately after the bodies were recovered.

early forensic analysis

International guidelines for investigating aviation accidents generally state that post-mortem examinations should be carried out urgently after fatal aviation accidents.

These tests help determine whether medical emergencies, pilot incapacity, toxic factors, or other human factors contributed to the accident.

Without early forensic analysis, investigators lose crucial information about the condition of the aircraft crew and passengers at the time of the crash.

This parliamentary inquiry follows two previous investigations seeking to determine the cause of the accident. A government-appointed inquiry concluded in December 2024 that poor weather conditions were the primary factor behind the crash.

A separate technical report, issued in June of last year by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, reached similar conclusions, attributing the accident to the crew's decision to continue flying in poor weather conditions and at low altitude. Both investigations identified the weather and the pilot's decisions as key factors in the accident, but did not refer to the autopsy findings.

Public confidence in the official findings has remained fragile since the disaster. During a Christmas Eve Mass in December 2024, Thomas Luke Msousa, the Catholic Archbishop of Blantyre, publicly questioned the credibility of the commission's conclusions.

Calls from civil society organizations

Civil society organizations, including the Center for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives, have called for greater transparency and the publication of full investigation records.

The government subsequently authorized a parliamentary inquiry in early 2026 to address what lawmakers described as unresolved gaps in previous reports.

Forensic experts say the nearly year-long delay may limit the information investigators can glean from the exhumations.

While modern forensic pathology can extract some information from exhumed remains, decomposition, the chemicals used in embalming, and environmental conditions can greatly reduce the reliability of toxicology tests and soft tissue analysis.

Immediate autopsies could have helped determine whether the pilot or his co-pilot had suffered medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest or stroke during the flight, or whether there were substances affecting the ability to think clearly present in their bodies.

Injury patterns can also help investigators understand whether passengers were conscious at the moment of impact and how the plane hit the ground.

The ad hoc committee said its investigation would include more than 150 witnesses from government agencies, aviation authorities, the military and other institutions related to the flight.

Some testimony will be heard in public hearings, while other evidence will be presented in closed sessions. Parliament has established a hotline to receive feedback regarding the incident.

The committee expected the investigation to last for 90 days after the appointment of technical experts and reviewers, with the final report to be issued later in 2026.

Burial traditions in Malawi

The decision to exhume the victims' bodies may reopen painful wounds for the families of the victims who buried their loved ones in June 2024 after the declaration of national mourning and the holding of an official funeral for Chilima.

Burial traditions hold deep cultural and spiritual significance in Malawi, and grave robbing may carry emotional and religious connotations.

The parliamentary statement did not specify whether families had been consulted about the planned exhumations, or what legal procedures would govern the process.

For many relatives, the renewed investigation represents a search for answers, and the possibility of reopening a national tragedy that shook the country.