Conflicting accounts have emerged regarding when police were alerted to reports that could have helped search teams locate the Nthungwa crash site of the Malawi Defence Force Dornier 228 aircraft. The Parliamentary Ad hoc Committee investigating the crash heard testimony from former Nthungwa Primary School head teacher Atusaye Mwalwanda and police officer Emily Mwangonde. Their accounts differ by three hours regarding when Mwalwanda alerted Mwangonde about a potential crash.
Mwalwanda told the committee that resident Flora Mkandawire alerted him between 10am and 11am on June 10, 2024, after seeing an aircraft and hearing what she believed was “something falling”. He subsequently tried to contact Mwangonde at Northern Region Police Headquarters but was told she was unavailable. Mwalwanda claimed he later called Mwangonde at about 4pm. However, Mwangonde stated that she received the call at about 7pm, creating the discrepancy.
Mwangonde said that when she received Mwalwanda’s call, he told her that women in Nthungwa had heard a sound behind a nearby mountain. She claimed to have passed the information to Northern Region Police Headquarters operations officer Emmie Soko, together with the informant’s telephone number and a map showing the Nthungwa area. The police later called Mwalwanda at around 8pm, telling him that officers would come to the area, but they did not arrive that night.
The committee also heard a separate account of a possible crash alert from former Mzuzu State Lodge police officer Samuel Muwanga. Muwanga stated that forest guard Wongani Ngoma called him at about 5pm and reported hearing a strange sound earlier that morning. Muwanga attempted to contact his superiors but was initially hampered by a network problem before eventually passing the information to a Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Muwanga stressed that he had not heard the sound himself, but was merely relaying the information provided by Ngoma. Ngoma had previously told the committee that he alerted Muwanga, his friend and a police officer at Mzuzu State Lodge, about a possible crash site in the Nthungwa area. The aircraft was eventually located on June 11, after Ngoma and fellow forest guard Mike Chirwa helped guide officials to the site.
The committee also heard testimony from Discovery Munthali, a close friend of Ephraim Duma, the Lilongwe resident who previously testified that he saw Vice-President Saulos Chilima standing at the aircraft’s door and calling for help. Committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu-Manda questioned Munthali about Duma’s state of mind and credibility. Munthali described Duma as a successful businessperson who owned several businesses, vehicles, and a house.
The committee also heard from Duma’s uncle, Bryson Chirwa, who said Duma arrived at his home the morning after the disaster with blood-stained clothes and claimed he had been chased and shot at in the forest. Chirwa stated that Duma told him he had encountered trouble while following the aircraft in Chikangawa and had been found in a sack bag after the alleged pursuit. The Malawi Defence Force Dornier 228 crashed in the Nthungwa area of Viphya Plantation on June 10, 2024, killing Chilima and eight other people.
Key points
- The Parliamentary Ad hoc Committee is investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash of the Malawi Defence Force Dornier 228 aircraft.
- Conflicting accounts have emerged regarding when police were alerted to reports that could have helped search teams locate the Nthungwa crash site.
- The aircraft was eventually located on June 11, after forest guards Wongani Ngoma and Mike Chirwa helped guide officials to the site.
