By Lovemore Lubinda
The recent raid by Zambian special forces in what government has described as a joint operation at opposition leader Brian Mundubile’s residence, and the alleged shootings have left Zambians with more questions than what meets the eye.
While others are questioning as to why the operation had to happen the way it did, for former Mutotwe Kafwaya’s wife the question is different, emotional and heavier ‘Where my husband?”
The question was asked on Monday in a quiet room in Lusaka. Mutotwe’s wife Dinis Ngandu Kafwaya sat on a couch, a small lavalier microphone clipped to her red t-shirt. Around her, women sat on the floor and on chairs. Some had their eyes closed.
One in a white t-shirt was crying, wiping her face and holding her head. The woman next to her in black and glasses kept a hand on Dinis’ back.
The video has since been shared widely. In it, Dinis speaks directly to the camera. Her tone is emotional but steady.
“I last saw my husband on Friday morning,” she says. “I spoke to him around midday. At 17:00 I started calling. The phone is still ringing.”
She then describes what the state has confirmed and what it has not. The state confirmed a raid at Brian Mundubile’s home. The state said “friends” were apprehended. Her husband’s name was not on the list. But, she says, Mundubile is on record saying he witnessed (her husband) Mutotwe being shot twice during the raid.
“We need the government to help us locate him, whether dead or alive,” she says, pressing a hand to her chest. “Because the family cannot move forward. We don’t know whether to hold a funeral. The children are affected. They are missing school and exams. This uncertainty is affecting my health.”
The raid happened in the early hours of Friday at Mundubile’s residence in Lusaka. According to police and witnesses, special forces entered the compound shortly after midnight.
The government said the operation was a joint security action linked to a threat and to persons of interest gathered at the home.
The State added that Mundubile, leader of the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity and the main challenger to President Hakainde Hichilema, was present.
He was taken in for questioning by the military and later released.
A brief government statement listed several names of those apprehended. Mutotwe Kafwaya’s name was not among them.
That absence is what brought Dinis and the women from her church together. They were not marching. They were not chanting. They were sitting, trying to account for one man.
Friends describe Mutotwe Kafwaya as a businessman and a longtime associate of Mundubile. He is a husband and a father. In the video Dinis says the children have not gone to school since Friday. Exams are being missed. At home, no one can plan anything because no one knows anything.
The government has repeated that the operation was lawful and necessary and has urged the public not to speculate.
It has not given a detailed account of what was found inside the residence or how many people were held and for how long.
Mundubile’s party has condemned the raid and called for an independent inquiry. In a statement the party said a country cannot conduct an election while people are being taken from homes without clarity about their whereabouts. The ruling UPND has called for calm and said institutions should be allowed to complete their work.
Human rights lawyers said on Monday that the law is clear. When the state conducts an operation and takes people, the state must account for them and inform families in a reasonable time.
The fact that a name does not appear on a list, they said, does not end the obligation.
The video ends with Dinis looking at the camera. She does not cry. She asks again.
“Help us,” she says. “Whether dead or alive. Just tell us.”
She added that her husband’s phone is still ringing and that the family is waiting for an answer which the State has not yet given.
Apparently, in a statement, Secretary to Cabinet Patrick Kangwa said the Zambia Police Service, acting on a tip-off from members of the public, conducted a joint operation at a premises in Kabulonga on the night of August 13.
Kangwa said 11 were apprehended and that some of the people apprehended had been under surveillance for some time for being connected to military plans involving foreign nationals and illegal military training camps.
He said the authorities found and seized restricted high grade military weapons and ammunition along with the suspects apprehended.
However, Mundubile said the allegations contained in the statement were inaccurate and that no foreign nationals or sophisticated military weapons were found at his residence.
The presidential candidate was speaking during a Facebook Live interview with Tonse Alliance chairperson for information Emmanuel Mwamba following the Government’s statement on the police operation.
Among the 11 arrested were NRPUP’s presidential spokesperson George Chisanga, UNIP president Bishop Trevor Mwamba, Simon Phiri, Patrick Mwansa Francis Mulenga and Mundubile’s bodyguard Richard Banda, among others.
“When I listened to the statement, I became very, very concerned and saddened that the entire Government machinery would go before the entire nation and fabricate stories, ignore the real issues that they needed to address in that particular incident, and begin to implicate innocent individuals,” Mundubile said.
He shared that on the fateful night after the election on Thursday, his security team informed him that their offices had allegedly been raided and party cadres arrested.
Mundubile said shortly afterwards, his security detail informed him that the Kabulonga residence had been surrounded.
According to Mundubile, gunshots were fired during the incident and several members of the security team and occupants of the house sought refuge inside the residence.
He alleged that armed personnel entered the house and fired shots in the direction of former Member of Parliament Mutotwe Kafwaya and himself.
He denied that foreign nationals were present at the residence or that the premises contained high-grade military weapons.
“To put it straight, Ambassador, there was no foreign person in that yard. There was no sophisticated weapon in that yard,” he said.
Mundubile also denied that members of his team had fled the scene, saying the information contained in the Government statement was inaccurate.
He said his party had no links to any militia or foreign military forces and maintained that the NRPUP was committed to peace and national unity.
“We are a non-violent political formation. We have had a very peaceful political run because our members have been told that there will be no terrorism, there will be no political violence in our country,” he said.
He said the controversy surrounding the police operation should not distract Zambians from what he described as more important concerns relating to the management of the 2026 general election.
Former Minister Mutotwe Kafwaya’s wife on video says her husband is not among those reported to be in police custody.
Though Mundubile confirmed Kafwaya was among them during the raid.
And BM witnessed Kafwaya being shot twice.
She asks where is he now?
1) He was among those raided.
2) He is not on government list of those arrested and in custody.
3) According to Mundubile he was shot twice
4) Where is he? Did he flee?
5) Is he dead and in mortuary?
