A former Zambian government minister, Mutotwe Kafwaya, has been killed during a security operation at a house linked to opposition leader Brian Mundubile in Lusaka.
Zambian police said Kafwaya, 49, was fatally wounded during an exchange of gunfire involving a joint security task force. Authorities said officers encountered resistance and returned fire before recovering a firearm from the scene.
The raid took place shortly after Zambia’s presidential election. Police arrested 11 people and accused Mundubile’s political party, the NRPUP, of involvement in insurgency and militia activities, including the alleged storage of high-grade weapons.
Mundubile has denied the accusations, describing them as fabricated. He has reportedly gone into hiding while challenging the election result in court. According to official results, incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema won a second five-year term with about 60% of the vote, while Mundubile received approximately 38%.
The former minister’s death was confirmed several days after the raid. Police initially described the person killed during the operation as unidentified before Kafwaya’s family reportedly identified him. Kafwaya entered parliament in 2016 and later served under former President Edgar Lungu. He became Minister of Works in 2018 before moving to the Transport Ministry in 2019. He remained an opposition lawmaker after Lungu lost the presidency to Hichilema in 2021.
The election has attracted scrutiny from international observers. The European Union’s election observation mission said the campaign environment was uneven and raised concerns about restrictions on opposition activities and media access. The observers also questioned aspects of the vote-counting process, citing interruptions, weak verification procedures and the failure to publish separate polling-station results.
Meanwhile, Zambia’s Human Rights Commission has called for investigations into people who remain missing following arrests and security operations connected to the election.
The commission said people detained beyond the legally permitted period should either be brought before a court or released, while allegations of unlawful detention and disappearances should be independently investigated.
