Saulos Chilima Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

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Age: 51 Years

Death Date: 10/06/2024

Death Cause: Plane Crash

Bio/Wiki
Birth Name	Arafat Hamdani
Full Name	Saulos Klaus Chilima
Profession(s)	• Politician • Economist • Philanthropist
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	5' 8" (172 cm)
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Career
Political Party	Tonse Alliance (United Transformation Movement)
Political Journey	• 31 May 2014–31 May 2019: Minister Responsible for Public Events and Disaster Management • 3 February 2020–10 June 2024: Vice-President of Malawi • 29 June 2020–10 June 2024: Minister of Economic Planning and Development
Personal Life
Date of Birth	12 February 1973 (Monday)
Birthplace	Ntcheu, Malawi
Date of Death	10 June 2024
Place of Death	Chikangawa Forest Reserve, Malawi
Age (at the time of death)	51 Years
Death Cause	Plane crash
Zodiac sign	Aquarius
Nationality	Malawian
Hometown	Ntcheu, Malawi
School	• Primary education: Henry Henderson Institute (HHI), Dharap, Blantyre • Secondary education: Marist Brothers Mtendere Secondary School, Thiwi, District Dedza, Malawi
College/University	• University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi • University of Bolton, UK
Educational Qualification(s)	• A Bachelors degree in Social Sciences, Computer Science, and Economics from University of Malawi (1994) • A Master's degree in Economics from University of Malawi (2006) • Leadership Development Program conducted by Louis Allen Worldwide in Bahrain (2008) • High Performance People Skills for Leaders Program from London Business School (2008) • Celtel Advanced Management Program from London Business School (2007) • Ph.D. in Knowledge Management from the University of Bolton, United Kingdom (2015)
Religion	Roman Catholic
Social Media	• Instagram • Facebook • Twitter
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Married
Marriage Date	30 September
Family
Wife/Spouse	Mary Nkhamanyachi Chilima (banker, entrepreneur)
Children	He had two children named Sean and Elizabeth.
Parents	Step-father- Henderson Brown Chilima (air craft engineer) Father- Jussab Hamdani (politician) Mother- Elizabeth Frances Chilima (a government sector employee)
Siblings	Step-brothers- 2 • Talib Chilima • Hussein Chilima Step-sisters- 2 • Jabin Chilima • Tionge Chilima

Some Lesser Known Facts About Saulos Chilima

Saulos Chilima grew up in Blantyre, where his parents worked.

During his school days, he used to spend his summer holidays with his grandparents in Lilongwe and Ntcheu.
Saulos Chilima (standing) during his school days

His stepfather, Henderson Chilima, was a senior aircraft engineer at Air Malawi. His biological father, Jussab Hamdani, was the deputy mayor of Lilongwe and a successful businessman who owned an Engen filling station.

Henderson Chilima adopted him after marrying his mother, who was from Ntcheu and whose maiden name was Valera.

Saulos Chilima’s biological father, Jussab Hamdani, had 21 children, and the youngest was six months old when Jussab Hamdani passed away. ^[1]The Maravi Post

His mother worked as a secretary at the Episcopal Conference of Malawi Secretariat.

His original name was Arafat Hamdani. He changed his name to Saulos after being baptized at the Catholic Institute Church in Blantyre.

In 1993, as a student, Saulos Chilima was elected as the president of the Alliance for Democracy (Aford), founded by Chakufwa Chihana to promote multi-party democracy.
Saulos Chilima with his friends during his college days

He was a marketer by profession. He started his career at Lever Brothers Limited (now Unilever).

In 2008, Saulos Chilima’s contribution to Opco Limited led to the company earning awards like “OPCO of the Year 2008” and “Initiative of the Year” for the Quick Refill Centers (QRC) concept.

After that, Saulos Chilima joined Southern Bottlers Limited (now Castel Malawi).

In 2010, he became the first local managing director of Airtel Malawi. At Airtel, he led important projects like Project Precision, Yabooka, Airtel Money, and a 3G network upgrade.

Reportedly, these projects increased business revenue and employee engagement of Airtel Malawi under his leadership. Reportedly, Airtel Malawi’s annual revenue grew by 75% from $54 million in 2010 to $95 million in 2013.

He led the implementation of a unique and innovative outsourcing model in telecoms for Airtel Malawi. It covered network, call centre, and IT departments.

Before working in telecommunications, Saulos Chilima held senior sales and marketing positions in banking and fast-moving consumer goods sectors including Leasing and Finance Company, Unilever Malawi, Coca-Cola, and Carlsberg.

In February 2014, he became the political partner of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Peter Mutharika for the May 2014 presidential election.
Saulos Chilima (left) while meeting Peter Mutharika

He served as Minister for Disaster Relief and Public Events from 31 May 2014 to 31 May 2019.

Saulos Chilima later left the DPP and started his party, the United Transformation Movement (UTM), on 21 July 2018 to contest the elections in May 2019.

On 1 February 2019, UTM held meetings with the Alliance for Democracy (Aford), Joyce Banda’s People’s Party, and the Tikonze People’s Movement led by Cassim Chilumpha to form a united opposition.

They planned to field one presidential candidate for the election.

Joyce Banda and Cassim Chilumpha later left the alliance due to disagreements over the selection of a presidential candidate.

In the election, Saulos Chilima with Michael Usi as his election partner, came third and earned a 20.24 vote percentage. The UTM won four seats in the National Assembly.
Saulos Chilima (right) with Michael Usi during a political campaign

Saulos Chilima’s wife produced and featured in a music video campaigning for her husband in 2019.

The presidential election was rejected and held in 2020.

In 2020, he, along with Lazarus Chakwera, an election partner, contested for the Malawi Congress Party in the Tonse alliance, which included nine opposition parties. They all aimed to defeat Peter Mutharika’s administration.
Saulos Chilima with Lazarus Chakwera during a political campaign

On 3 February 2020, he was appointed as the vice president of Malawi and served as the Minister of Economic Planning and Development.

On 22 June 2022, Saulos Chilima was removed from his delegated powers as vice president due to his involvement in a $150 million corruption scandal. The case was related to exploiting the allotment of government contracts.

In November 2022, he was charged with receiving $280,000 from British businessman Zuneth Sattar in exchange for granting contracts to Xaviar Limited and Malachitte FZE companies. However, Chilima claimed that he was not guilty of the corruption charges.

In May 2024, the corruption charges against Saulos Chilima were dropped after the state prosecutor filed a motion to dismiss the case.

Malawi’s President Chakwera had started assigning official duties to him even before the charges were dropped.

He was a member of the Leadership Council of Compact 2025, which provides advice to end hunger and undernutrition by 2025.
Saulos Chilima while addressing a Compact 2025 discussion

Saulos Chilima used to write articles about malnutrition.

He often spoke about sustainable and inclusive development and participated in many international conferences on ending hunger.

Saulos Chilima supported environmentalism, physical fitness, and sports participation.

He was a strong critic of political corruption and actively supported Archdiocesan seminaries.

On 10 June 2024, a Dornier 228 aircraft of the Malawi Defence Force carrying Saulos Chilima and nine others went missing in the Chikangawa Forest Reserve in the Northern Region. 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 lost contact with the aircraft.
A search and rescue operation being conducted on the Dornier 228 aircraft of the Malawi Defence Force

On 11 June 2024, in a national address, Chakwera confirmed that Saulos Chilima and all passengers on the plane had died in the crash.

President Chakwera directed the nation to keep 21 days of mourning from 11 June to 1 July 2024 in honour of Chilima and the eight others who died.

Saulos Chilima was a member of the Economics Association of Malawi.

He liked travelling to distant places and playing golf in his free time.
Saulos Chilima while playing golf

Saulos Chilima was a fitness enthusiast. He used to do physical exercises regularly. He often participated in marathons.
Saulos Chilima while running a marathon

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