Military plane carrying Malawi's vice president goes missing, search underway

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — A military plane carrying Malawi's vice president and nine others disappeared Monday while on a short trip from the capital to a mountainous region in the country's north and a search is underway, the president's office said.

The plane carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima, 51, left the southern African country's capital, Lilongwe, at 9:17 a.m. but disappeared from radar and failed to land as planned about 45 minutes later at Mzuzu International Airport, about 370 kilometers (230 miles) away. North.

“All efforts to make contact with the plane since it disappeared from radar have so far failed,” according to a statement from the office of Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera. Chakwera ordered a search operation and canceled a trip to the Bahamas, his office said. The other people on board have not been identified.

Mzuzu is the third largest city in Malawi and the capital of the northern region. It lies in a hilly, forested area dominated by the Viphya mountain range, which has extensive pine plantations.

Malawian media group The Times reported that search teams of soldiers, police and others were scouring one of these wooded areas near Mzuzu for traces of the plane.

Chakwera ordered state and local authorities to “immediately conduct a search and rescue operation to locate the aircraft’s location,” his office said. Chakwera later announced on his official Facebook page that he would deliver a live address to the nation at 11 p.m.

Chilima was facing corruption charges following allegations that he received money in exchange for his influence over the awarding of government contracts, but the charges were surprisingly dropped by prosecutors last month. This sparked criticism that Chakwera's administration was not taking a strong enough stance against corruption.

Chilima was arrested in late 2022 and appeared in court several times, but the trial had not yet started. He denied the allegations.

Chilima was a candidate in the 2019 Malawian presidential election and finished third. This vote was won by incumbent President Peter Mutharika but was overturned by Malawi's Constitutional Court due to irregularities. Chakwera finished second in that election.

Chilima then joined Chakwera's campaign as a vice-presidential candidate in a historic repeat election in 2020, when Chakwera was elected president. It was the first time in Africa that an electoral result annulled by a court resulted in a defeat for the sitting president.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

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