Police Finally Confirm Kafwaya Died During Kabulonga Operation

Former Lunte Member of Parliament Mutotwe Kafwaya died on the night of 14 August during a joint security operation at a Kabulonga residence, the Central Joint Operations Committee has confirmed, ending five days of uncertainty during which his family repeatedly appealed for information on his whereabouts and the Human Rights Commission searched multiple Lusaka police stations without success.

In a press statement issued 19 August and signed by Inspector General of Police Graphel Musamba on behalf of the CJOC, authorities said a joint task force team, including the Drug Enforcement Commission, carried out an intelligence-led operation at the premises around 19:30 hours on 14 August, following surveillance of the property that the statement said had been under way since November 2023.

According to the statement, the team was "welcomed with gunfire and resistance from unknown individuals" upon arrival, and returned fire, fatally wounding one unidentified male person. That individual was rushed to hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

The statement said that following social media reports of a missing person, efforts were made to establish whether the description of the body matched Kafwaya, and that his family members were called this evening and have positively identified the deceased as Mutotwe Kafwaya.

The account differs sharply from what NRPUP presidential candidate Brian Mundubile had said publicly in the days following the incident.

Mundubile had described soldiers forcing their way into his Kabulonga residence and shooting Kafwaya twice inside a bedroom where the two men and Mundubile's wife were being held, and said Kafwaya had been taken to Maina Soko Military Hospital in critical condition.

Government officials had specifically denied that account at the time, saying hospital records showed no admission under his name.

Tuesday's statement gives, for the first time, an official account of how Kafwaya died, framing it as the outcome of an exchange of gunfire initiated by people inside the residence rather than a shooting of Kafwaya directly by the task force.

Kafwaya's death closes out a search that had grown increasingly public in the days since the operation.

His son, Mubanga Kafwaya, appealed directly to President Hakainde Hichilema last weekend, saying the family had not heard from his father since 12 August and did not know his condition. His elder brother, Busuma Mukupa, said the family had received no official communication about his whereabouts.

The Human Rights Commission, an independent constitutional body, said it had personally visited four Lusaka police stations, Chelstone, Matero, Lusaka Central and Kabwata, and was told at each that Kafwaya was not being held there, before announcing plans to extend its search to three further stations.

Notably, Kafwaya's name did not appear in an earlier, detailed 16 August government statement naming eleven other people arrested at the same premises and facing charges, a gap MUVI reported on at the time as the one unresolved thread in an otherwise detailed official account.

The eleven people apprehended at the premises, whom Tuesday's statement names as Brazil Soko, 56; Jackson Mutyoka, 41; Bernard Chewe, 41; Simon Phiri, 43; Richard Banda, 49; George Kangwa Chisanga, 59; Trevor Mwamba, 68; Francis Mulenga, 26; Emmanuel Mulenga, 56; Patrick Mwansa, 39; and Darius Mwila, 57, remain in custody and are being held in connection with alleged treason and any other offences that may arise from the investigation.

The statement said three of the suspects are former commandos with special forces training the government described as a potential national security risk, and two are retired police officers, one of whom served with the Flying Squad.

Authorities said firearms, including automatic Uzi-type weapons, AK-47 rifles and a pistol, along with tactical equipment and electronic devices, were recovered from the premises and are being forensically examined.

The statement said all suspects would be dealt with according to the law, and that anyone found not connected to the alleged offences would be released, adding that there was "no intention to target individuals on the basis of their political affiliation, occupation or status."

MUVI has not independently verified the government's account of the operation or the specific allegations against those in custody, and has sought further comment. This remains a developing story amid the ongoing, contested aftermath of Zambia's 13 August election.