Chafukira’s body under medical inquiry

Speaker of the Malawi National Assembly Henry Chimunthu Banda says the late Chafukira was a great asset to the country's Parliament. Pic by Malawi Digest.

By Lucy Liponda

A high powered team of medical experts, has descended upon the South African border town of Messina where they are conducting a detailed analysts on how opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) parliamentarian for Lilongwe North West, Ishmael Chafukira died mysteriously on Sunday, Malawi Digest understands.

An official working in the Malawi High Commission in South Africa confirmed in a telephone interview from Messina on Tuesday morning.

The official, who was part of the Malawi High Commission staff that went to confirm the death of Chafukira in Messina, said South African immigration officials, doctors and police investigators are working around the clock to piece together information on how the sudden death occurred.

“So far, they have visited the hotel where Chafukira died from this unknown ill-ness and now investigators have given a chance to pathologists and other medical experts to examine the body of the late honourable parliamentarian,” said the official.

The official who did not want to be named because he had not sought permission from Malawi High Commissioner to South Africa Agrina Mussa to speak to Malawi Digest said that at this moment he cannot disclose anything on the findings.

“Everything remains sketchy at the moment and we will have to wait until a final conclusion on the whole story either today, Tuesday or the latest Wednesday after a proper post-mortem is done,” he said.

The official’s version of the story has been confirmed by the Speaker of the Malawi National Assembly Henry Chimunthu Banda who said the body of the late Chafukira would not be brought to Malawi until after a proper post-mortem is done.

“We have requested medical experts in South Africa in collaboration with the police to institute an inquiry on how our honourable Member of Parliament died so sudden away from home,” he told Malawi Digest on Tuesday afternoon.

Speaker Chimunthu Banda heaped praises on the late Ishmael Chafukira saying his demise is a great loss to the Malawi nation.

“He was one of the most hard-working parliamentarians who contributed positively to the deliberations in the National Assembly for the good will of the country,” he said.

Ishmael Chafukira died at a time when he was fighting for a leadership change in the Malawi Congress Party under the famous John Zenus Ungapake Tembo also well known as Puludzu.

Tembo has always boosted that whoever dares him, always disappears and he always triumphs, hence his newly found name, Puludzu.

Former president of Malawi Bakili Muluzi has repeatedly told Malawians that John Tembo is a murderer, man with blood in his hands, a killer and a serious manipulator.

The late Ishmael Fillimon Chafukira has died soon after just being re-elected as opposition MCP parliamentarian for Lilongwe North West in the May 19th General Elections.

According to information gathered by Malawi Digest when it visited the late Chafukira's residence on Monday morning, his wife Joyce Chafukira said her late husband joined politics in 2003 and got elected to Parliament in 2004.

Before that, Chafukira worked as a secondary school teacher and at the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation.

The late Chafukira who was 43 years old had a Bachelors of Education degree from the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College in Zomba– Malawi Digest.