Parliament has summoned the Director General of the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), Daudi Suleman, to appear before its Ad-Hoc Committee inquiring into the Chikangawa plane crash.
According to a summons dated 18th September 2026 and signed by Joseph J. Manzi on behalf of the Clerk of Parliament, Suleman is expected to appear before the committee on Thursday, 24th September 2026 at 9:30 hours at the Parliament Building in Lilongwe.
The summons, which is issued under Section 60(b) of the Constitution and Section 9 of the National Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act and Standing Order 151, says the MACRA boss is being called to testify on matters within his knowledge and official responsibility concerning the crash.
Specifically, the committee wants Suleman to explain requests made to mobile network operators, coordination with State agencies, the legal and technical basis for tracing the missing aircraft, the results supplied, their timing and limitations, and the preservation of records.
The document signed by Manzi further directs Suleman to prepare and present all requests, directions or instructions issued to mobile network operators in connection with the missing aircraft, with dates and times.
He is also ordered to produce all correspondence with the Malawi Police Service, the Malawi Defence Force, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs and any other State agency on tracking, legal authority, warrants or approvals relied upon in requesting or authorizing the tracing of communications.
In addition, Suleman is expected to provide all results, location estimates and technical reports supplied by or through the Authority, showing the time of supply and the recipients, as well as any directions given for preservation of records by operators, records of compliance, and internal minutes recording the Authority’s decisions in the matter.
The Chikangawa plane crash, which remains a matter of national interest, is now under fresh parliamentary scrutiny as the Ad-Hoc Committee seeks to establish a clear timeline of the search and rescue efforts, including the role played by communications regulators.
