Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating the Chikangawa plane crash has summoned former Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority Director General Daudi Suleman to explain the role mobile network operators played in tracing phones linked to the search for the missing aircraft.
The summons, dated Sept. 18, 2026, and signed by Joseph J. Manzi for the Clerk of Parliament, requires Suleman to appear on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. at the Parliament Building in Lilongwe.
“Whereas the Ad-Hoc Committee of Parliament is enquiring into the Chikangawa Plane Crash; you are hereby summoned to appear before the Committee,” the letter states, calling on Suleman to testify “on matters within your knowledge and official responsibility concerning requests made to mobile network operators, coordination with State agencies, the legal and technical basis of tracing, the results supplied, their timing and limitations, and the preservation of records.”
The summons adds another layer to Parliament’s fresh inquiry into the June 10, 2024, crash in Chikangawa that killed former Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others.
The committee has directed Suleman to produce all requests, directions or instructions issued by Macra to mobile network operators in connection with the missing aircraft, as well as correspondence with the Malawi Police Service, Malawi Defence Force, Civil Aviation Authority, Department of Disaster Management Affairs and any other state agency involved in the tracing effort.
It also seeks documentation of the legal authority, warrants or approvals used to request or authorize the tracing; all results and location estimates supplied through Macra; and records showing when the information was shared and with whom.
In addition, the committee wants any directions issued to operators to preserve records, proof of compliance, and internal notes or memoranda detailing how Macra handled the matter.
The summons follows earlier testimony by former Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba, who told the committee that her office obtained the passenger manifest and mobile phone numbers before contacting Suleman. She said Suleman then linked her office to the chief executives of Airtel Malawi and TNM to assist in tracing the phones
