DISSECTING THE INQUIRY REPORTS ON THE DEATH OF EVISON MATAFALE.
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 […]
DISSECTING THE INQUIRY REPORTS ON THE DEATH OF EVISON MATAFALE.
EPISODE 8 (2026): AS THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH CONTINUES. The post-mortem examination on Evison Matafale’s body conducted by Dr Charles Dzamalala on 28 November 2001 identified subdural haemorrhage affecting both temporal regions of the head, which he attributed to moderate blunt force trauma. Furthermore, Dr Charles Dzamalala identified this haemorrhage as the cause of death. […]
EPISODE 7 (2026): MATAFALE DIED OF MALARIA AND PNEUMONIA, ACCORDING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY.
Having discredited the findings of the autopsy report by Dr Charles Dzamala and adopted an alternative approach to establishing the cause of Evison Matafale’s death on 27 November 2001, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry arrived at a different explanation of what caused Evison Matafale’s death. According to the Commission’s report, its conclusions were as follows: […]
DISSECTING THE INQUIRY REPORTS ON THE DEATH OF EVISON MATAFALE
EPISODE 5 (2026): WHAT DID THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY DO AFTER REJECTING THE AUTOPSY FINDINGS? After rejecting the findings of the autopsy report by Dr Charles Dzamalala, which identified head injuries and bleeding inside the skull as the cause of Evison Matafale’s death, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry pursued a different line of investigation […]
DISSECTING THE INQUIRY REPORTS ON THE DEATH OF EVISON MATAFALE
EPISODE 4 (2026): AUTOPSY REPORT IDENTIFIED HEAD INJURIES AND BLEEDING AS THE CAUSE OF DEATH. The autopsy on Evison Matafale was conducted by pathologist Dr Charles Dzamalala on Wednesday, 28 November 2001, at the Anatomy Mortuary, College of Medicine, in Blantyre. During the examination of Evison Matafale’s head, Dr Charles Dzamalala made the following observation: […]
DISSECTING THE INQUIRY REPORTS ON THE DEATH OF EVISON MATAFALE.
EPISODE 3 (2026): THE COMPOSITION OF THE INQUIRY TEAMS. One of the critical issues that deserves examination when revisiting the two inquiries into the death of Evison Matafale is the composition of the respective investigative teams. The credibility and perceived independence of an inquiry are not determined solely by its mandate or the authority that […]
REMEMBERING MALAWI’S REGGAE KING, EVISON MATAFALE: 25 YEARS ON!
November 2026 marks exactly 25 years since the death of Malawi’s reggae king, Evison Matafale, who died on 27 November 2001 at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe while in police custody. In the aftermath of his passing, two parallel inquiries were instituted to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death. Unprecedentedly, and rather surprisingly, both inquiries […]
WHEN MALAWI’S LANGUAGES ENTERED PARLIAMENT
By Ali Gunde. Lilongwe, 29 September 2026 — The Lost History Foundation (LHF) on Tuesday appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs to present its position on the use of Malawi’s indigenous languages in parliamentary proceedings. At the heart of LHF’s submission was a simple question: Why should Malawi conduct its highest public business […]
THE BANDA COINCIDENCE: WHEN BRIAN BANDA’S FINAL CHAPTER ECHOED THE STORY OF JUMANI.
The death of renowned Malawian journalist Brian Banda on 8 August 2026 has left the country in shock. Brian, whose voice and incisive questioning became familiar to many Malawians in the country and abroad, was laid to rest in Blantyre on 10 August. His death came suddenly, following a short illness that, to many people, […]
“WE HAVE FRIENDS, WE ARE NOT ALONE!”: THE SECRET FOREIGN MILITARY SUPPORT TO MALAWI GOVERNMENT DURING THE MWANZA WAR.
One of the most intriguing questions surrounding the Mwanza War of October 1967 is whether foreign countries indeed intervened to militarily support the Malawi Government. Addressing Parliament on 12 December 1967, President of the Republic of Malawi, Dr Kamuzu Banda made a remarkable revelation: > “When the news of Yatuta’s invasion of this country reached […]