Would the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) send its soldiers into combat in the DRC armed with blank ammunition? Of course not. That would be reckless and an unacceptable failure of leadership.
Now consider this.
Imagine sending a driver to transport a bus full of passengers from Blantyre to Lilongwe without a valid driver’s license, insurance, a Certificate of Fitness (COF), functioning headlights, a horn, a spare tyre, or even a windscreen.
If that bus crashes, killing both the driver and the passengers, would you then blame the dead for driving an unlicensed, uninsured, and unroadworthy vehicle? Or would you hold accountable those who allowed such a vehicle onto the road in the first place?
That is the question many Malawians are asking about the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of Vice President Saulos Chilima, former First Lady Shanil Dzimbiri, and seven others.
If people were sent into an unsafe situation without the necessary resources, proper maintenance, or adequate safeguards, responsibility cannot simply be shifted onto those who lost their lives.
Leadership carries accountability, especially when lives are at stake.
The focus should not be on blaming the victims but on examining whether those entrusted with oversight fulfilled their duty of care.
If there were failures in leadership, maintenance, decision-making, or operational readiness, those responsible must be held to account.
No amount of intimidation or appeals to “national security” should prevent Malawians from seeking truthful answers about the circumstances that led to the deaths of the country’s Vice President, the former First Lady, and seven other citizens.
Accountability is not an attack on the Malawi Defence Force.
It is a necessary step toward ensuring that such a tragedy never happens again. laced at risk instead of accepting responsibility for the failures in leadership.
Heads must roll . MDF top Leadership must be put to task .
No amount of intimidation, national security no sense will stop Malawians from trying to find answers as to what happened to a state vice President, former First Lady and 7 others .
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