"MDF soldiers are still on the ground carrying out the search and I have given strict orders that the operation should continue until the plane is found," Chakwera said.

An aircraft carrying the vice president, Saulos Klaus Chilima, and nine others went missing after losing contact with aviation authorities en-route to Mzuzu earlier on Monday.

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The military aircraft left Lilongwe, the capital, at 09:17 a.m. (0717 GMT) and had been scheduled to land at Mzuzu Airport at 10:02 a.m, Malawi's Office of the President and Cabinet said.

Chilima, seen as a potential candidate in next year’s presidential election, was arrested in 2022 over graft allegations.

However, a Malawi court dropped the corruption charges against him last month after the director of public prosecutions filed a notice for the case to be discontinued. Chilima has denied any wrongdoing.