Exclusive:  The Killer in the Witness Box: How a Convicted Murderer Became the Chilima Inquiry’s ‘Interpreter”

A Tiyeni Malawians investigation can reveal that the man who sat beside key witness Flora Mkandawire at the parliamentary hearing into the June 10, 2024 plane crash that killed Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others is a convicted murderer who coached the witness and staged a fake interpretation role to lend her testimony credibility

Multiple highly placed sources — including former and serving inmates at Zomba Maximum Prison, court records, and political insiders — have confirmed that Saukira Phiri, presented to the Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Committee as Mkandawire’s Chitumbuka interpreter, is in fact a former murder convict known throughout Zomba as “Sauikile” — a prison kabwelebwele (veteran inmate), police snitch, and political dobadoba who has spent his entire life in Zomba, not Nthungwa as claimed

According to multiple independent sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, Phiri served a long murder sentence at Zomba Maximum Prison for killing a watchman at Mulunguzi Secondary School.

“He killed a watchman by cracking his head with a big rock while he was sleeping,” a former fellow inmate told Tiyeni Malawians. “Everyone in Zomba knows this. It is not a secret.”

A second prison source corroborated the account, adding that Phiri was notorious inside the prison walls as well.

“He was a kabwelebwele,” the source said, using the Chichewa term for a hardened, repeated offender. “He coordinated so many thefts and housebreakings even while he was in jail. He was released for unknown reasons. Nobody understands how he walked free.”

Upon his release, sources say Phiri reinvented himself as a pastor — hence the shiny jacket he wore to the parliamentary hearing and his new title of Abusa (Pastor). But the transformation, sources say, was never convincing.

“He feigned a new character as a pastor,” a Zomba community source said. “But he couldn’t hide his true colors for long. He drinks a lot. When he gets to a bar he buys beers like no other, with no real or explained source of income. He doesn’t have a job.”

Multiple sources described Phiri as a long-time police snitch who gave away fellow criminals while pursuing his own secret criminal activities.

“He has been a police informant for years,” a security source said. “He sells out his fellow criminals and then goes and commits his own crimes. That is how he survives.”

The most explosive allegations concern Phiri’s role as a political dobadoba — a fixer and operative — who has served multiple parties across Malawi’s political spectrum.

“He worked for Joyce Banda’s PP,” a political insider told this publication. “He was an MCP self-acclaimed operative during the Chakwera term. And now he is with DPP, helping them shape the Chikangawa narrative.”

The crash occurred in the Chikangawa Forest in Mzimba District, and the parliamentary inquiry has become a battleground for competing narratives about what happened to the military aircraft.

“This guy has lived his entire life in Zomba,” the insider continued. “Why is he anywhere near a Nthungwa witness from the northern region? It is because of his court experience — witnessing through years as an accused person. He has helped the witness come up with a compelling story that will convince people of what happened.”

Perhaps the most damning revelation concerns Phiri’s actual role at the hearing.

Mkandawire was presented to the committee as a Chitumbuka speaker requiring interpretation into Chichewa. But Mkandawire was fluent in Chichewa throughout even when taking questions. Phiri had nothing to do. He just sat there.

Phiri with Mkandawire during the enquiry proceedings

Another source described the arrangement as a “staged parade.”

“This witness parade is staged,” the source said. “The guy sitting next to the witness is a dobadoba and he is the one who coached the woman. Was he there to be an interpreter or what? Where did he meet the woman? Even worse, why does the Committee even allow an ‘interpreter’ to also testify? Every Malawian saw Phiri also sharing his thoughts even charging that the truth must come out? “

A serving inmate who knows Phiri confirmed the arrangement, saying in Chichewa: “Yes, and everyone knows that this thing that is happening is ukhuluku” — a term suggesting deception and treachery.

Sources further challenged Phiri’s claimed residence, stating he lives in Zomba’s Matawale township — not Nthungwa in the north as the hearing was led to believe.

“He stays in Zomba Matawale, not Nthungwa like he said,” a community source confirmed. “He has never lived in the north. He is a Zomba boy through and through.”

Multiple sources told Tiyeni Malawians that Phiri’s involvement is financially motivated.

“Trust me, this parading is now political,” a source said. “This Saukile guy will get money from this as he has done before through being a dobadoba for politicians.”

The revelations raise serious questions about the integrity of the parliamentary inquiry, which is already under scrutiny for contradictory testimony and procedural irregularities.

A few former inmates who knew Phiri inside Zomba Maximum Prison have independently corroborated the account. One, who is currently serving a sentence, confirmed: “Yes, and everyone knows that he was Mkaidi.”

The Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Committee has not responded to questions about how Phiri was cleared to sit beside a witness, who arranged his presence, or why a Chitumbuka interpreter was provided for a witness fluent in Chichewa.

Attempts to reach Phiri for comment were unsuccessful. Committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu-Manda did not respond to written questions by press time.

The implications are significant: if the inquiry’s key witness was coached by a convicted murderer and political operative, the entire Chikangawa narrative — and the credibility of the parliamentary process itself — may be compromised.

As one source put it: “This is an explosive investigation. And the truth is only beginning to come out.”

This investigation was compiled by Tiyeni Malawians from a range of informers, corroborators, court records, and fellow former and serving inmates at Zomba Maximum Prison. Sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns