An order to have Chilima’s death inquiry report to go public first, is Chakwera’s leadership sign of transparency

MZUZU-(MaraviPost)-The decision by Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera to have the report on June 10 aircraft crash read out to the public first before presented to him, has earned praise among members of the Commission who view this as a pure sign of transparency.

Inside sources privy to this information at Capital Hill say the Commission of Inquiry was supposed to present its findings to President Chakwera on Saturday December 13 in Mzuzu where the Malawi leader is carrying out a number of duties this week.

“They sought an audience with the President but he had advised them to read out the report to the public first before he gets it. This is an assurance that both the process and outcomes of the inquiry have been handled in a transparent manner,” says the impeccable source.

He added that this unprecedented move by the President leaves no room for further speculation on what happens to the report when it reaches the administration.

“Previously, when such a sensitive report goes to the President it is followed by a public outcry especially when the findings are not in other people’s preconceived ideas about the particular issues. By letting the public have the report first, it becomes difficult for anyone to start growing unfounded assumptions.”

President Lazarus Chakwera promised Malawians during Chilima’s funeral ceremony at Bingu Stadium on June 15 that he was going to institute a commission that would conduct an independent and credible investigation into the aircraft accident.

When the President configured the commission late October, it was realized that some elements of society were bent on punching holes into an institution the nation had been eagerly waiting for.

The chief accuser himself, Sylvester Namiwa of Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI), chickened out of the Commission just a day after he took oath at Kamuzu Palace.

Namiwa was incorporated into the 19-member commission as a representative of the civil society. Prior to his appointment he was in the forefront pushing government to institute an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Chilima’s demise together with eight others.

In his word, Namiwa said he had decided to quit the Commission because there was an air of secrecy in how the Commission intended to carry out its duties.

To the contrary, Chairperson Judge Jabbar Alide made sure he updated the nation on the entire process plus calling upon everyone with information to show up and make themselves heard.

This publication learns that many people including President Chakwera himself, were asked questions by the Commission and they cooperated as required by law.

Now that the truth is out and the President is giving it to the public first, Namiwa and friends have a huge task to convince Malawians on whether their accusations to the President and his administration were of any merit from day one