Malawi: MP, activist arrested over 'inflammatory' posts about Vice President's plane crash

Lilongwe: Police in Malawi have arrested a Member of Parliament (MP), Kamlepo Kalua, and an activist, Bon Kalindo, for their social media posts regarding the June 10 plane crash that killed the country's Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight other officials.

National police spokesperson Peter Kalaya confirmed the arrests in a statement on Friday, saying they had made "inflammatory social media posts which are full of innuendos and insinuations".

Kalaya said that the voice notes in question contain serious criminal elements as defined by the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act, Xinhua news agency reported.

The police spokesperson further said that the posts have the potential to incite violence and disorder.

The social media posts reportedly made by Kalua and Kalindo questioned and contradicted the authorities' narrative regarding the cause of the plane crash.

The plane, a Dornier 228 military aircraft belonging to the Malawi Defence Force, crashed on June 10 in a forest a few kilometres away from Mzuzu City in northern Malawi due to poor weather conditions, according to the country's Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Colleen Zamba.

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has since engaged foreign experts to join the Malawi Defence Force and the Malawi Police Service in investigating the crash to find out the actual cause.

Meanwhile, experts from Germany are scheduled to jet into the country on Saturday to help investigate, Minister of Information and Digitalisation Moses Kunkuyu said.