Zambian police have confirmed that former transport minister Mutotwe Kafwaya was killed in a raid on a house tied to main opposition leader Brian Mundubile during which security forces arrested 11 people accused of plotting an armed insurrection.
Police said Kafwaya, 49, was fatally wounded in an exchange of fire when a joint security task force stormed a Lusaka property linked to Mundubile on 14 August, a day after last week’s presidential election.
Authorities accused Mundubile’s National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity of militia activity and storing high‑grade weapons.
The raid resulted in the arrest of 11 people whom officials allege were involved in planning an armed insurrection.
Police said they encountered gunfire and returned fire, recovering weapons at the scene. Family members later identified Kafwaya’s body.
Kafwaya, a former works and transport minister under ex‑President Edgar Lungu, had remained an opposition MP after Hakainde Hichilema defeated Lungu in 2021.
Mundubile, who secured 38 percent of the vote in the latest election against Hichilema’s 60 percent, has gone into hiding and dismissed the allegations as “fabrications.”
He has vowed to challenge the election results in court.
JN/APA