Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has confirmed the death of his Vice President Saulos Chilima in a press briefing on Tuesday, June 11.
“Despite the experience of the crew, something terrible happened to that aircraft sending it crashing down and killing everyone on board,”
“He was a good man, patriotic citizen. It was an honour to have him as my deputy in the past 4 years.” The President said.
Chilima died after a military plane that was carrying him and nine others crashed after going off the radar.
The VP was heading for the funeral of a prominent Malawi lawyer.
According to Malawi 24, the VP’s wife Mary Chilima was supposed to accompany him but she declined at the last minute because she had examinations to take.
Saulos Chilima also did not want to travel but was pushed by some of his friends because the late lawyer Ralph Kasambara was a close friend.
Chilima took the plane so that he could return in time to see off the President was to travel abroad.
Chilima’s bio
Dr. Saulos Chilima was born on February 12, 1973. Chilima is from the Ngoni tribe from Ntcheu District in Central Malawi.
He married Mary and together they have two children. He is a Roman Catholic with leadership positions within the church.
Chilima was first sworn in as Vice President of the Republic of Malawi on May 30, 2014.
On June 28 2020, Chilima was sworn in for his second term as Vice President of the Republic of Malawi.
He holds a PhD in Knowledge Management from the University of Bolton and a Master’s degree in Economics.
He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences, Computer Science and Economics from the University of Malawi.
Chilima is the first Malawian to head Airtel Malawi, the leading mobile telecommunications company in the southern African country.
Before venturing into telecommunications, he held Senior Sales Marketing positions in the banking sector.
He also ventured into the fast-moving consumer goods sector namely the Leasing and Finance Company, Unilever Malawi, Coca-cola and Carlsberg.
