Funeral service held for Malawi’s vice-president

Tens of 1000’s of Malawians have taken half in a funeral service on the nationwide stadium to pay tribute to the vice-president who was killed in a airplane crash final week.

Saulos Chilima, 51, was thought-about a breath of recent air in Malawian politics.

He was an eloquent public speaker and energetic campaigner who held enormous sway among the many youth who account for greater than half of Malawians.

On the service, President Lazarus Chakwera promised a full investigation into the reason for the crash and mentioned that he had requested international governments to assist.

“I also have the same questions that Malawians have,” he mentioned.

President Chakwera had beforehand mentioned the navy plane had crashed due to poor visibility attributable to unhealthy climate however Mr Chilima’s UTM social gathering has known as for an intensive and impartial investigation.

The president mentioned that the Malawian navy would perform an investigation however that one other, impartial, one was wanted as nicely.

Mr Chakwera and different authorities officers had been booed by some members of the group on the Bingu Nationwide Stadium. The 41,000-capacity stadium was full, with extra folks outdoors.

Calm was solely restored after the intervention of Catholic monks.

Mr Chilima was a religious Catholic and the service included a full mass.

He can be buried in his dwelling district of Ntcheu, 180km (112 miles) south of Lilongwe on Monday, which has been declared a public vacation.

His coffin, draped in Malawi’s pink, inexperienced and black flag, was introduced into the stadium by a guard of honour.

The service started with transferring tributes from his household.

His son, Sean, recalled what a loving father he was, how he at all times had time for kids and performed video games with them. He added that his father had been extraordinarily aggressive and at all times wished to win.

“Dad was a hard worker who always made sure he got things done,” he mentioned.

His brother, Ben, mentioned the household was grateful to have been given the non-public belongings he had on him on the time of the accident, together with his watch and rosary.

Mr Chilima died final Monday as he was flying to the northern city of Nkhata Bay the place he was to attend the funeral of a former cupboard minister.

Your complete crew and different passengers on board, together with former First Woman Shanil Dzimbiri, additionally perished.

Mr Chilima had a profitable profession working within the personal sector the place he held numerous senior, well-paid positions in enterprise earlier than taking what many thought was a dangerous determination, venturing into politics aged simply 40.

He had been vice-president since 2014, initially beneath former President Peter Mutharika.

After falling out with Mr Mutharika, Mr Chilima shaped his personal social gathering, the UTM.

He ran for president within the 2019 elections, coming third behind Mr Mutharika and Mr Chakwera, however the election outcomes had been nullified by the Malawi excessive courtroom following complaints of fraud.

Within the 2020 presidential election, Mr Chilima agreed to be Mr Chakwera’s running-mate, in an alliance of 9 opposition events.

In June 2022, he mentioned that as a part of that settlement, President Chakwera was to serve for just one time period and he would then again Mr Chilima within the subsequent elections in September 2025.

President Chakwera has not publicly disputed Mr Chilima’s declare, however in latest public pronouncements he began to trace that he would possibly search re-election subsequent 12 months.

In public appearances, Mr Chilima and Mr Chakwera appeared to be on good phrases however many thought a fall-out was inevitable significantly after senior leaders of their respective events had began to overtly endorse the candidatures of the 2 in subsequent 12 months’s elections.