Saulos Chilima Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
Order1:7th
Office1:Vice President of Malawi
Term Start1:3 February 2020
Term End1:10 June 2024
President1:Peter Mutharika
Lazarus Chakwera
Predecessor1:Everton Chimulirenji
Successor1:Michael Usi
Term Start2:31 May 2014
Term End2:31 May 2019
President2:Peter Mutharika
Predecessor2:Khumbo Kachali
Successor2:Everton Chimulirenji
Office3:Minister of Economic Planning and Development
Term Start3:29 June 2020
Term End3:10 June 2024
President3:Lazarus Chakwera
Predecessor3:Position created
Successor3:Vacant
Office4:Minister of the Civil Service
Term Start4:31 May 2014
Term End4:31 May 2019
President4:Peter Mutharika
Predecessor4:Khumbo Kachali
Office5:Minister Responsible for Public Events and Disaster Management
Term Start5:31 May 2014
Term End5:31 May 2019
Predecessor5:Khumbo Kachali
President5:Peter Mutharika
Party:Tonse Alliance
United Transformation Movement (UTM)
Otherparty:Democratic Progressive Party (until 2018)
Birth Name:Saulos Klaus Chilima
Birth Date:12 February 1973
Birth Place:Ntcheu, Malawi
Death Place:Chikangawa Forest Reserve, Malawi
Death Cause:Plane crash
Alma Mater:University of Malawi
University of Bolton
Spouse:Mary Chilima
Children:2 (Sean and Elizabeth)

Saulos Klaus Chilima (12 February 1973 – 10 June 2024) was a Malawian economist and politician who served as Vice President of Malawi from 2014 to 2019 and again from 2020 until his death in 2024.[1] Chilima assumed office on 28 June 2020, winning the majority alongside presidential candidate Lazarus Chakwera. Chilima also served as the Minister of Economic Planning and Development, as well as Head of Public Sector Reforms, a position he also previously held under the administration of former president Peter Mutharika. Before joining politics, Chilima held key leadership positions in various multi-national companies including Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Airtel Malawi, where he rose to become Chief Executive Officer.[2]

On 10 June 2024, a plane carrying Chilima and nine other passengers crashed in Chikangawa Forest Reserve in Mzimba District, killing all onboard. At least 41,000 people attended his state funeral.

Early life and education

Born on 12 February 1973 in Ntcheu, Malawi.[3] He was the first child of Henderson Brown Chilima of Ching'anga Village, T/A Njewa, Lilongwe and Elizabeth Frances Valeira Chilima of Mbilintengerenji Village, T/A Champiti, Ntcheu. Chilima spent most of his early life in Blantyre where his parents were working and spent his summer holidays with his paternal and maternal grandparents in Lilongwe and Ntcheu, respectively.[4]

Chilima did his primary school at HHI and Dharap primary schools, and his secondary education at the Marist Brothers Mtendere Secondary School Thiwi in the Dedza District.[5] He went on to the University of Malawi, Chancellor College, where he graduated with a degree in social sciences in 1994. After working for a few years, he returned to his alma mater (University of Malawi) to pursue a master of arts in Economics, graduating in 2005. On 10 August 2015, Chilima received his Ph.D in Knowledge Management from the University of Bolton in the United Kingdom.[6]

Business career

A marketer by profession, Chilima started his work career at Lever Brothers (Mw) Limited (now part of Unilever) before moving on to the Leasing and Finance Company of Malawi, and later Southern Bottlers Limited (now Castel Malawi).[7] [8] His last professional assignment was at Airtel Malawi where he was hired to lead its sales team before being named the first-ever local managing director for the company in 2010.

Chilima's most notable professional career successes include spearheading the strategic and breakthrough projects at Airtel, namely Project Precision, Yabooka, Airtel Money, and a 3G network upgrade, which resulted in significant impacts on the business revenue and employee engagement, growing Airtel Malawi's annual revenue by 75% over a period of three years from US$54 million in 2010 to US$95 million in 2013.[9]

Political career

In February 2014, Chilima was the running mate of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Peter Mutharika for the May 2014 presidential election.[10]

Chilima later left the DPP and launched his own party, the United Transformation Movement (UTM), on 21 July 2018 to contest the May 2019 elections.[11] [12] On 1 February 2019, the UTM held meetings with two other political parties and an alliance of smaller political parties aimed at forming a united opposition. These included the Alliance for Democracy (Aford), former President Joyce Banda's People's Party, and the Tikonze People's Movement led by former Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha. They agreed to field one presidential candidate for the election. Both Banda and Chilumpha later withdrew from the alliance citing "disagreement with the selection of a presidential running mate for the candidate of the upcoming election" as their reason.[13]

In the election, Chilima alongside Michael Usi as a running mate came third with 20.24% of the popular vote and the UTM won four seats in the National Assembly. However, the presidential election was annulled and rerun in 2020. In that year, Chilima contested the race as Lazarus Chakwera's running mate for the Malawi Congress Party, in the Tonse alliance which brought up to nine opposition political parties with hopes to topple the administration of Peter Mutharika.[14]

On 22 June 2022, Chilima was stripped of his delegated powers as a vice president due to his involvement in a US$150 million corruption scandal[15] involving alleged influence in the awarding of government contracts.[16]

In November 2022, he was charged on allegations that he received US$280,000 from a British businessman Zuneth Sattar in exchange for awarding government contracts to Xaviar Ltd and Malachitte FZE, two companies linked to Sattar. He pleaded not guilty to the corruption charges.[17] In May 2024 the corruption charges were dropped after the state prosecutor filed a motion to dismiss the case. President Chakwera had started to assign official duties to Chilima even before the charges were dropped.[18]

Advocacies

Previously, Chilima also served as minister for disaster relief and public events.[19]

Chilima was a member of the Leadership Council of Compact 2025, a partnership that develops and disseminates evidence-based advice to politicians and other decision-makers aimed at ending hunger and undernutrition by 2025,[20] and wrote on the topic of malnutrition.[21] He spoke on sustainable and inclusive development[22] and at international conferences on ending hunger.[23]

Chilima voiced his advocacy of environmentalism[24] and of physical fitness[25] and sports participation,[26] a stern critic of corruption in politics,[27] [28] [29] and an active supporter of Archdiocesan seminaries.[30] As a student, he led the students' wing of Alliance for Democracy (Aford), founded by Chakufwa Chihana for championing multi-party democracy.

Personal life

Chilima was married to Mary Chilima. They have two children, Sean and Elizabeth.[31] He was a Catholic.[32]

Death

See main article: article and 2024 Chikangawa Dornier 228 crash. On 10 June 2024, a Dornier 228 aircraft of the Malawi Defence Force carrying Chilima and eight others went missing in the Chikangawa Forest Reserve in the Northern Region while they were on their way to attend the funeral of former government minister Ralph Kasambara. President Lazarus Chakwera ordered a search and rescue operation after aviation officials were unable to contact the aircraft.[33] On 11 June 2024, in a national address, Chakwera stated that Chilima and all the other passengers on the plane (including a former First Lady of Malawi, Patricia Shanil Muluzi) were confirmed dead in the crash.[34]

After Chilima's body was recovered, a state funeral service was held for him at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on 16 June, during which at least 41,000 people attended.[35] He was buried on 17 June in his home village of Nsipe, in a ceremony that was also attended by Chakwera and former presidents Bakili Muluzi, Joyce Banda and Peter Mutharika.[36]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Saulos Chilima: Malawi vice-president who was plucked from business . 2024-06-13 . www.bbc.com . en-GB . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611121436/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6pp0y8e2q2o . live .
  2. Web site: Profile of the Vice-President of the Republic of Malawi, Right Honourable Saulos Klaus Chilima. www.statehouse.mw. 6 March 2018. 7 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180307033306/http://www.statehouse.mw/profile-of-the-vice-president-of-the-republic-of-malawi-right-honourable-saulos-klaus-chilima/. dead.
  3. Web site: 'Are you Saulos Chilima?' . 11 February 2015 . 7 June 2018 . 12 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140423/https://www.nyasatimes.com/are-you-saulos-chilima/ . live .
  4. Web site: 10 June 2024 . Saulos Chilima Family: All On Malawi's VP Wife Mary Chilima, Children And Parents . 11 June 2024 . Times Now . en . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611144419/https://www.timesnownews.com/world/saulos-chilima-family-all-on-malawis-vice-president-wife-mary-children-and-parents-article-110881856 . live .
  5. News: VP inspires Mtendere Secondary School students. 5 June 2017. The Nation Online. 6 March 2018. en-US. 24 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180824034129/http://mwnation.com/vp-inspires-mtendere-secondary-school-students/. live.
  6. Web site: Malawi President 'proud' of VP Chilima for attaining genuine doctorate degree. malawinewsnow.com. en-GB. 6 March 2018. 7 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180307150835/http://malawinewsnow.com/2015/08/malawi-president-proud-of-vp-chilima-for-attaining-genuine-doctorate-degree/. live.
  7. Web site: Mkwanda . Ayami . 11 June 2024 . Chilima: A political go-getter, now rests . 11 June 2024 . Nation Online . en-US . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611134513/https://mwnation.com/chilima-a-political-go-getter/ . live .
  8. Web site: The State Vice President . 11 June 2024 . www.malawi.gov.mw . en-gb . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611135303/https://www.malawi.gov.mw/index.php/component/sppagebuilder/52-the-state-vice-president . live .
  9. Web site: Dzida . Rick . 12 July 2023 . What Political Future Holds for Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima? Malawi 24 Latest News from Malawi . 11 June 2024 . Malawi 24 . en-US . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611142304/https://malawi24.com/2023/07/13/what-political-future-holds-for-malawi-vice-president-saulos-chilima/ . live .
  10. News: 12 February 2014. Meet Mutharika's runningmate Saulos Klaus Chilimaa: A great achiever at 40. malawivoice.com. 1 March 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140318020426/http://www.malawivoice.com/2014/02/12/meet-mutharikas-runningmate-saulos-klaus-chilimaa-great-achiever-at-40/. 18 March 2014.
  11. News: Meet Saulos Chilima, the DPP running mate. 10 February 2014. faceofmalawi.com. 1 March 2014. 8 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140308100539/http://www.faceofmalawi.com/2014/02/meet-saulos-chilima-the-dpp-running-mate/#sthash.wUxpqHol.dpbs. live.
  12. Web site: Chilima is the chosen one – Hollywood star. 12 June 2018. 7 June 2020. 7 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200607183623/https://malawi24.com/2018/06/12/chilima-is-the-chosen-one-hollywood-star/. live.
  13. Web site: Omodiagbe . Conrad . 6 February 2019 . Former Malawian President Joyce Banda Exits Coalition, Enters Election Race . 11 June 2024 . The Election Network . en-GB . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611141701/http://theelectionnetwork.com/2019/02/06/former-malawian-president-joyce-banda-exits-coalition-enters-election-race/ . live .
  14. Web site: 17 February 2020. MCP settles for Chilima: Deputy speaker Kazombo tells Chakwera to form alliance with UTM. 24 June 2020. Malawi Nyasa Times. en-US. 27 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200627094344/https://www.nyasatimes.com/mcp-settles-for-chilima-deputy-speaker-kazombo-tells-chakwera-to-form-alliance-with-utm/. live.
  15. Web site: Malawi president strips deputy of powers over graft . BBC News . 22 June 2022 . 22 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220622045817/https://www.bbc.com/news/world?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=62b297fa32686a6e65af01ed%26Malawi%20president%20strips%20deputy%20of%20powers%20over%20graft%262022-06-22T04:39:29.219Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:ede44276-7481-402b-ab3b-055ef572d596&pinned_post_asset_id=62b297fa32686a6e65af01ed&pinned_post_type=share . live .
  16. Web site: The Malawi vice-president who was plucked from business . BBC News . 11 June 2024 . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611121436/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6pp0y8e2q2o . live .
  17. News: 25 November 2022 . Malawi's Vice-President Saulos Chilima charged with corruption . 11 June 2024 . en-GB . 10 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240610171217/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63754227 . live .
  18. Web site: Malawi Vice-President Saulos Chilima's corruption charges dropped . 11 June 2024 . www.bbc.com . en-GB . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611105254/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd1dp7yvzn7o . live.
  19. Web site: MALAWI CABINET. www.malawihighcommission.co.uk. en-gb. 6 March 2018. 7 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180307082301/http://www.malawihighcommission.co.uk/index.php/44-about-malawi/138-malawi-cabinet. dead.
  20. Web site: Leadership Council. www.compact2025.org. en-US. 20 December 2017. 5 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160105052340/http://www.compact2025.org/about-compact2025/governance/leadership-council/. live.
  21. Web site: Abdoulaye Bio Tchané & Saulos Klaus Chilima, Author at African Arguments. African Arguments. en-GB. 6 March 2018. 21 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200921123245/https://africanarguments.org/author/abdoulaye-bio-tchane-and-saulos-klaus-chilima/. live.
  22. Web site: THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN AFRICA'S SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT: UNDERSTANDING THE CAPACITY CHALLENGES. www.acbf-pact.org. en. 6 March 2018. 7 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180307023122/https://www.acbf-pact.org/what-we-do/how-we-do-it/knowledge-learning/development-memoirs/role-information-and-communication. live.
  23. News: Fight hunger by educating farmers. Daily Monitor. 6 March 2018. en-UK. 21 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180621194310/http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Farming/Fight-hunger-by-educating-farmers-/689860-4245778-tg2v71/index.html. dead.
  24. Web site: Saulos Klaus Chilima – Missionaries of Africa – SAP Province. mafrsaprovince.com. en. 6 March 2018. 7 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180307022957/https://mafrsaprovince.com/tag/saulos-klaus-chilima/. dead.
  25. News: Vice President Rt. Hon Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima joins #Be More Race. 26 July 2017. The Maravi Post. 6 March 2018. en-US. 14 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180614050348/http://www.maravipost.com/17494-2/. live.
  26. News: Revamp minority sports – Veep. 6 March 2018.
  27. News: Chilima speaks tough on blind loyalty. 28 February 2018. Malawi 24. 6 March 2018. en-US. 11 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180611074941/https://malawi24.com/2018/02/28/chilima-speaks-tough-blind-loyalty/. live.
  28. News: Chilima speaks on corruption. 28 February 2018. The Nation Online. 6 March 2018. en-US. 21 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180721221933/http://mwnation.com/chilima-speaks-corruption/. live.
  29. Web site: News by topic :: Saulos Klaus Chilima. www.africanewshub.com. 6 March 2018. 7 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180307022810/https://www.africanewshub.com/tag/saulos-klaus-chilima/country/mw. dead.
  30. News: Malawi VP Chilima in Pre-Valentine Fundraising Dinner – Pleads With Catholics to 'Adopt a Seminary'. 14 February 2018. Nyasa Times (Leeds). 6 March 2018. 7 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180307023245/http://allafrica.com/stories/201802140793.html. live.
  31. Web site: Saulos Chilima: Malawi vice-president who was plucked from business . 11 June 2024 . www.bbc.com . en-GB . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611141919/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6pp0y8e2q2o . live .
  32. Web site: Malawi bishops mourn nation's Catholic vice president after he and 9 others die in plane crash National Catholic Reporter . 2024-06-16 . National Catholic Reporter . en.
  33. News: 10 June 2024 . Aircraft carrying Malawi vice president goes missing . 10 June 2024 . . 10 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240610155710/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4nn0zkq79ko . live .
  34. Web site: 11 June 2024 . Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima, 9 Others Killed In Plane Crash . 11 June 2024 . Times Now . en . 11 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611090721/https://www.timesnownews.com/world/breaking-news-malawis-vice-president-saulos-chilima-9-others-killed-in-plane-crash-article-110894921 . live.
  35. Web site: 16 June 2024 . Malawians pay tribute to vice-president killed in plane crash . 16 June 2024 . BBC . 17 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240617010419/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj77pvmndmjo . live .
  36. Web site: 18 June 2024 . Malawi's vice president laid to rest as president calls for an independent probe into his death . 18 June 2024 . Associated Press . 18 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240618004239/https://apnews.com/article/malawi-chilima-funeral-investigation-0f550ecb24074009b795089ed4d05874 . live .

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