Saulos Chilima: Malawi’s vice-president ousted from business

Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima has died at the age of 51 after a military plane he was flying in crashed in a forest in the country’s north.

He served as vice president for a total of nine years, spanning two terms, initially under former president Peter Mutharika, who hand-picked him from the business sector for the second-highest job in government.

As a politician, he was seen as having a special connection with people, especially young people.

He was very convincing in his attitude, fashionable in his dress and sometimes spoke like a member of the younger generation.

He was a “very magnetic figure among young people” who presented himself as a “handsome, athletic and dedicated young leader”, Bayana Chunga, a journalist in Malawi’s commercial hub Blantyre, told the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast.

Dr. Chilima exercised in public, sometimes doing push-ups on campaign podiums and attending golf tournaments himself as a player.

“In many ways, he was the symbol of youth participation in Malawi’s politics and governance,” Mr Chunga said.

In government he was described as a “performer” and a “workaholic”.

But in a way, it may also have been defined as being at the center of allegations of corruption in government.

First as accuser, then as accused.

Before Dr. Chilima became vice president in 2014, he was the managing director of the country’s leading telecommunications company, Airtel Malawi, the first Malawian to lead the organization.

Dr Mutharika reportedly said he was partnering with a “reliable and productive” person.

But four years later, Dr. Chilima fell out with the president, accusing the government of not doing enough to fight corruption and protect some people.

Under Malawian law, the president cannot fire the vice president – Dr Chilima has defied calls to resign despite his public challenge to the government in which he was a member.

He later formed his own political party, UTM, calling for radical changes and reforms in the country.

He ran for president in 2019 as the party’s candidate and came third.

Mr. Mutharika won those elections, but they were later annulled by Malawi’s Constitutional Court due to widespread irregularities.

It was the first time in Africa that an election result was annulled by a court, then the sitting president was defeated in a new vote.

Dr. Chilima teamed up as Lazarus Chakwera’s running mate in the historic 2020 vote.

Dr. Chakwera, who came second in the discredited 2019 poll, was widely elected president, and Dr. Chilima became his vice-president.

But the vice president will soon face allegations of corruption himself, which he opposed so much under the previous administration.

He was arrested in 2022 for claiming to have received money in exchange for his influence over the awarding of government contracts – which he denied.

The president fired another official named alongside him.

Unable to sack the Vice President, Dr Chakwera promised that he would no longer delegate any official duties to Dr Chilima during his trial.

Journalist Mr Chunga said “it was a big disappointment to the young people who followed him and to the nation as a whole” when Dr Chilima was accused of corruption.

But the charges were dropped last month, raising questions about the handling of corruption cases.

Prior to his role as a political heavyweight in Malawi, Dr Chilima held other senior positions in the corporate sector, including at the company that bottles Coca Cola in Malawi and at Unilever.

He was an economist and holds a doctorate in knowledge management.

While in government, he was also the minister responsible for economic planning and public sector reforms.

The government website said he was an “achiever”, a “workaholic” and “a high achiever”.

He is considered a potential candidate in next year’s presidential election.

Felix Njawala, spokesperson for Dr Chilima’s UTM party, said he had inspired many people because of the hope they had in him for the country.

He described the vice president as a “very smart” and “very strong” person who also inspired him.

“He inspired many of us – we lived the dream that he had,” he told the BBC.

Dr Chilima was born on February 12, 1973 in Blantyre, although his family originated from Ntcheu district in central Malawi.

He leaves behind his wife Mary and his two children, Sean and Elizabeth.