EPISODE 10 (2026): HAVE WE LEARNT FROM THE DEATH OF EVISON MATAFALE?
Twenty-five years after Evison Matafale’s death, Malawi finds itself undertaking another major public inquiry, this time into the Chikangawa plane crash that claimed the lives of former Vice-President Dr Saulos Chilima and eight others on 10 June 2024.
Although the two cases are different in nature and circumstances, they raise important questions about how we investigate deaths, establish facts, interrogate expert evidence and hold institutions accountable.
The Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee on the Chikangawa Plane Crash of 10 June 2024 has an opportunity to demonstrate that Malawi has learnt important lessons from previous experiences with commissions of inquiry on deaths.
As a nation, we must ask ourselves:
- Have we learnt the importance of genuinely independent and impartial investigations?
- Have we learnt that expert medical and forensic evidence must be interrogated scientifically rather than dismissed without satisfactory explanation?
- Have we learnt that public confidence cannot be secured merely by producing an official report?
- Have we learnt that investigations must pursue the truth, even when the evidence may be uncomfortable for powerful individuals or institutions?
- Have we learnt that accountability must go beyond making findings and recommendations?
- Have we, as a nation, developed a culture of treating commissions of inquiry as instruments for establishing the truth, or have we sometimes allowed them to become instruments for legitimising conclusions that may already be politically or institutionally convenient?
The Chikangawa plane crash inquiry by Parliament currently underway provides another opportunity for Malawi to demonstrate whether those lessons have been learnt.
Ultimately, the credibility of any inquiry is not measured by the authority that establishes it, the prominence of its commissioners or the speed with which it produces a report. It is measured by the integrity of its processes, the quality of its evidence, the credibility of its findings and its contribution to justice and accountability.
As a nation, we must learn from our history; otherwise, we risk repeating its mistakes.