By Brian Matambo | Sandton, South Africa

Former Lunte Member of Parliament and former Minister of Transport and Logistics, Hon. Mutotwe Kafwaya, has been confirmed dead, days after a security operation at the Kabulonga residence of presidential candidate Hon. Brian Mundubile.

According to a statement attributed to the Central Joint Operations Committee (CJOC), security officers conducting what authorities describe as an intelligence-led operation on 14 August exchanged gunfire with individuals at a residence in Kabulonga. Authorities said one unidentified man was fatally wounded during the operation and was later pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital.

Following reports that Kafwaya was missing, the CJOC says his family was contacted and subsequently positively identified the deceased as Mutotwe Kafwaya.

However, Brian Mundubile has strongly disputed the official account of what happened at the Kabulonga residence, particularly the suggestion that security officers encountered an armed group or exchanged gunfire with people at the property.

Mundubile says the property in question is his family home, where he lives with his wife and children, and not a militia base or location harbouring an armed group. He says there was no militia at his residence and insists there were no weapons at his home and nobody at the property opened fire on the security officers.

According to Mundubile’s account, there was no exchange of gunfire. He alleges that the gunfire came from the security forces, who fired at him and people who were at his residence.

Mundubile has previously described having to dodge gunfire during the operation as officers entered the property. His account therefore stands in direct conflict with the version attributed to the CJOC that security officers exchanged gunfire with individuals at the residence.

Questions are now being raised about the circumstances surrounding the operation. If the residence was genuinely believed to be a haven for an armed militia, why was the property not immediately sealed off and secured as a crime scene? And after security personnel had rounded up Mundubile and the other people at the property, why was Mundubile subsequently allowed to leave if authorities regarded him as the person harbouring an armed militia at his own residence?

Mundubile’s account is that there were no weapons and no militia at the scene. These conflicting versions make a transparent investigation into the operation essential, particularly to establish who fired the shots, whether any weapons were recovered from the residence, and precisely how Kafwaya sustained the injuries that ultimately claimed his life.

The confirmation of Kafwaya’s death brings a tragic end to days of uncertainty surrounding his whereabouts. Earlier, his wife, Dinis Ng’andu Kafwaya, approached the Lusaka High Court seeking leave to commence habeas corpus proceedings, in an effort to compel the State to account for her husband and bring him before the court.

Kafwaya was also a longstanding member and Elder of Tabernacle of David Assembly-City Mission Church, where he had worshipped for more than 20 years.

Before confirmation of his death, Bishop Harrison Sakala and the Church Board issued a pastoral statement expressing deep concern over Kafwaya’s disappearance and appealing to authorities to urgently establish his whereabouts and communicate his condition to his family.

“Every family deserves truthful and timely information about their loved ones.”

The church called for a transparent, lawful and credible investigation capable of establishing the truth while respecting the dignity and constitutional rights of everyone involved.

News of Kafwaya’s death has triggered an outpouring of grief. Hon Makebi Zulu mourned Kafwaya as a brother and public servant who had served Zambia as an elected leader for 10 years, saying his life should never have ended in this manner.

Fellow church member Musa Khonje remembered Kafwaya as a brother in Christ with whom he had served God for more than 15 years at Tabernacle of David, describing him as a believer who had encouraged him in his calling and service to God.

The death of Hon. Mutotwe Kafwaya is a devastating loss to his wife and children, his wider family, the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance, the Christian community and the people of Zambia.

Beyond the grief, serious questions remain unanswered. The competing accounts of what happened inside the Kabulonga residence cannot simply be left standing side by side. The country deserves an independent and credible determination of the facts surrounding the operation and the circumstances that led to Kafwaya’s death.

DEVELOPING STORY.