Serious questions raised over Zambia's security operations following armed raid at presidential candidate's home

Serious questions are mounting over the conduct of Zambia's security services following an armed operation at the Kabulonga residence of Presidential Candidate Hon. Brian Mundubile, amid reports of gunfire, injuries, missing property and uncertainty over the whereabouts and condition of members of his political and security team.

The concerns have deepened following reports that the wife of former Lunte Member of Parliament and former Transport Minister Hon. Mutotwe Kafwaya was denied access to her husband when she went to Maina Soko Military Hospital to check on his condition.

Kafwaya was reportedly among those caught up in the operation at Mundubile's residence. According to an account given by Mundubile, Kafwaya was shot twice and was bleeding profusely during the incident. His wife subsequently went to Maina Soko seeking to see him but was reportedly prevented from gaining access, raising further questions about his condition and the circumstances under which he is being held or treated.

The National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) has described the incident at Mundubile's residence as an armed, military-style operation and is demanding that the Government disclose which security agencies participated, who commanded the operation and under whose authority it was carried out.

According to accounts from Mundubile and his team, heavily armed personnel purportedly drawn from the Zambia Army, Zambia Police and other security wings descended on the Kabulonga residence on Friday. Gunshots were fired, forcing Mundubile to dodge live bullets while attempting to protect himself and his family. His wife was also reportedly placed in direct danger, with a bullet said to have passed dangerously close to Mundubile.

Others reported to have been present or caught up in the operation include Presidential Spokesperson Hon. George Chisanga; Patrick Mwansa, husband to Tasila Lungu; Mundubile's driver, Mutambo; his bodyguard Richard Banda; and other members of the presidential candidate's security team.

There was considerable confusion during the operation, and concerns remain about what happened to some of the people who were at the residence. When Mundubile and others eventually returned to the property, they reportedly found the house ransacked, with allegations that money, jewellery and other property were missing.

NRPUP Chairperson for Information and Publicity Elias Kamanga has demanded an independent investigation and a full public accounting for everyone who was present or removed from the residence.

The party has also placed responsibility for explaining the operation on President Hakainde Hichilema as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, arguing that an armed security operation against the residence of a presidential candidate in the immediate aftermath of an election cannot be treated as a routine law-enforcement matter.

NRPUP has demanded immediate access by lawyers, relatives, medical personnel and independent human-rights monitors to all those arrested, detained or injured during the Kabulonga operation. It has also called for the preservation of CCTV footage, operational logs, radio communications, weapons records, vehicle movements and detention records that could establish exactly what happened.

The party has further asked whether any extraordinary security directive or state of emergency is in force, arguing that the deployment of heavily armed personnel against political actors requires a clear legal explanation.

Zambians therefore deserve to know who ordered the Kabulonga operation, which units participated, why gunfire was used, who was injured or detained, where those individuals are now, and why the wife of Hon. Mutotwe Kafwaya was reportedly denied access when she went to Maina Soko to see her husband.

These questions cannot be answered with silence.

They require an investigation, accountability and the rule of law.

* Brian Matambo is a Media Director at Tonse Pamodzi Alliance in Zambia

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of IOL