Public Holiday in 2024

President Lazurus Chakwera has declared Monday, 17th June, 2024 as a public holiday to allow Malawians to pay their last respects to the Vice President Saulos Chilima.

The Minister of Information and Digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu announced this during a press conference at Parliament Building in Lilongwe.

“The day will accord an opportunity to Malawians from all walks of life to pay their last respect to Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kunkuyu said, foreign dignitaries have started registering to come and attend the burial ceremony of late Vice President Dr Chilima in Ntcheu.

Some include Vice President from Botswana, Vice President from Tanzania, Speaker from Ghana and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Traditional leaders from Zambia and Defence Minister, Prime Minister of Mozambique amongst others.

Malawi's Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima and nine other people were killed when the plane they were travelling in crashed in the Chikangawa mountain range on Tuesday June 11th 2024,

Chilima, 51, and the other passengers had been headed to attend the funeral of the country's former attorney general when their plane dropped off radar. Air traffic officials said the plane had been unable to land at Mzuzu airport, about 200 miles north of the capital, due to poor visibility, and the pilot had been advised to return to Lilongwe when the flight disappeared.