Saulos Klaus Chilima Biography: 12 Things You Need To Know About Malawi's Former Vice President

Saulos Klaus Chilima, born on February 12, 1973 was a Malawian politician and economist who earned a high reputation for himself in the Malawian political scene. He was a former Minister of Economic Planning and Development in Malawi, a former Head of Public Sector Reforms and a former Vice President of the country.

On June 10, 2024 he died in an aircraft crash along with eight other passengers on their way to attend a funeral.  

12 Things To Know About Saulos Klaus Chilima

Here are 12 things you need to know about Saulos Klaus Chilima:

• His full name is Saulos Klaus Chilima but he is sometimes known as Saulos Chilima
• He was born on February 12, 1973 in Ntcheu, Malawi to Elizabeth Frances Valeira Chilima and Henderson Brown Chilima
• As of the time of his death in June 2024 he was 51 years old
• He attended HHI and Dharap primary schools, the Marist Brothers Mtendere Secondary School Thiwi and the University of Malawi, Chancellor College, where he obtained a degree in Social Sciences
• He also acquired a Master's of Arts in Economics from the University of Malawi and a Ph.D in Knowledge Management from the University of Bolton in the United Kingdom
• He started his career as a marketer working at companies like Lever Brothers (Mw) Limited (now part of Unilever), Leasing and Finance Company of Malawi, Southern Bottlers Limited (now Castel Malawi) and Airtel Malawi where he later became the company's first ever local Managing Director
• He started his political career in 2014, participating in the presidential election that year as the running mate of Peter Mutharika, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
• He founded his own party, the United Transformation Movement (UTM), in July 2018 after leaving DPP
• He became the Vice President of Malawi in 2020 after contesting at that year's presidential election as the running mate of Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party and winning 
• He forwent his salary of K1.7 million monthly after becoming the Vice President in order to contribute to the mobilization of resources for the fight against coronavirus (Covid-19)
• He was married to Mary Chilimaa and the couple had two children together; Sean and Elizabeth
• He died on June 10, 2024 after an aircraft carrying him and eight other passengers to a funeral crashed in the Chikangawa Forest Reserve in the Northern Region of Malawi