Government Says Kabulonga Raid Targeted Militia With "High-Grade Military Weapons," Names 11 Charged

The Zambian government has given its first detailed official account of the security operation at a Kabulonga residence on the night of 13 August, saying police acted on a public tip-off to apprehend suspected militia found in possession of high-grade military weapons and materials for "armed insurrection," and that eleven people arrested at the scene now face criminal charges.

In a press statement issued 16 August and read by Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa, government said the Zambia Police led a joint operation at the Kabulonga premises against "suspected militia and persons of interest" who it said had been under surveillance for several years, and more intensively in recent months. The statement said some of those involved were connected to "military plans involving foreign nationals and illegal military training camps," which it described as posing a serious threat to state security.

According to the statement, occupants of the premises fired shots at law enforcement officers during the operation, resulting in an exchange of fire. Police seized restricted high-grade military weapons, ammunition and other materials, and apprehended a number of suspects at the scene, while government said others fled and their whereabouts remain unknown.

Government named eleven people apprehended at the scene as facing various criminal charges: George Chisanga, Bishop Trevor Mwamba, Simon Phiri, Richard Banda, Francis Mulenga and Patrick Mwansa among them, saying all are held in lawful custody at police stations across Lusaka, have been formally charged, and will be granted access to their families and lawyers. The statement said NRPUP presidential candidate Brian Mundubile "was also found on the scene," without stating whether he has been charged with any offence. Investigations, government said, are ongoing.

A Strikingly Different Account

This official version stands in direct contrast to the account Mundubile and his allies have given publicly since the incident. Mundubile has said armed soldiers forced their way into his residence, fired shots inside a bedroom where he, his wife and former Lunte MP Mutotwe Kafwaya were being held, and that Kafwaya was shot twice and taken to Maina Soko Military Hospital in critical condition. Government officials, including Defence Ministry Permanent Secretary Maambo Hamaundu and Information and Media Permanent Secretary Thabo Kawana, had already publicly and specifically denied the shooting and hospitalisation claims prior to this statement, saying hospital records showed no record of Kafwaya's admission.

The eleven names listed in Sunday's statement match, almost exactly, the list of individuals Mundubile and Bishop Mwamba's family had described in preceding days as missing or unaccounted for, including Mwamba himself, whose wife had publicly appealed to authorities and to former Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi for his safe return. Sunday’s statement effectively confirms their whereabouts for the first time, in state custody facing criminal charges, though it does not address the specific injury and hospitalisation claims made regarding Kafwaya, whose name does not appear among the eleven listed.

MUVI has not independently verified the government's characterisation of the operation, the alleged weapons cache, or the claimed links to foreign nationals and militia training, nor has it verified Mundubile's competing account of an unprovoked raid. MUVI is seeking comment and response from the NRPUP, the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance and will update this report as more information becomes available.

This remains a developing story amid an already tense and contested post-election period, with Zambia's final election results still pending.