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Zambian government has rejected allegations of arbitrary arrests, saying security agencies were conducting lawful investigations into suspected criminal activities and threats to national security, as several opposition-linked figures remained in custody following post-election security operations across the country.
State House Communication Specialist, Clayson Hamasaka, said on Friday that a sustained campaign by some citizens and sections of opposition-aligned media was portraying legitimate investigations as a programme of arbitrary arrests targeting particular individuals.
However, the government’s own account confirms that 11 people were apprehended and former opposition lawmaker and minister, Mutotwe Kafwaya, killed during a joint security operation in Lusaka’s Kabulonga area on August 13.
The 11 named by government are George Chisanga, Bishop Trevor Mwamba, Simon Phiri, Richard Banda, Francis Mulenga and Patrick Mwansa. Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa said they were being held at various police stations in Lusaka and faced criminal charges.
Chisanga is a spokesperson for opposition presidential candidate, Brian Mundubile, while Mwamba is a faction leader of the United National Independence Party. Government has also identified Mwansa as the husband of former President Edgar Lungu’s daughter, Tasila.
Government identified Brazil Soko, Jackson Mutyoka, Bernard Chewe, Emmanuel Mulenga, and Darius Mwila
as other five people it said were among the 11 apprehended.
The operation has become a major point of political contention because Mundubile, who contested the presidential election for the New Reconciliation Party for Unity and Progress (NRPUP), was also found at the premises, although the government had not said he was arrested or charged.
Mundubile and his allies have disputed the government’s account of the operation and raised concerns over the whereabouts of several people associated with his campaign.
In an account of the raid, Mundubile said he had been informed that two people close to him had died, while he listed Chisanga, Mwansa, Mulenga and his driver Moses Mutambo among people whose whereabouts had been uncertain.
The government, however, said the operation followed surveillance of some individuals for several years and that authorities recovered restricted high-grade military weapons, ammunition and other materials allegedly intended for an armed insurrection.
It also said occupants of the premises fired at law-enforcement officers, resulting in an exchange of gunfire, while some suspects fled and remained unaccounted for.
Hamasaka said the allegations of arbitrary arrests were “false, misplaced and potentially dangerous”, arguing that they deliberately blurred the distinction between arbitrary arrest and lawful investigation.
“Political affiliation, public prominence or claims of persecution cannot confer immunity from lawful investigation where competent authorities have reasonable grounds to investigate suspected criminal conduct or threats to national security,” Hamasaka said.
He cited reports of high-grade military weapons allegedly found at private residences, claims of specialised or mercenary-style training abroad, statements expressing willingness to kill fellow Zambians if an election did not produce a preferred outcome, and alleged calls for the assassination of the sitting Head of State.
He also cited conduct purporting to declare a presidential outcome before the conclusion of the electoral process by the constitutionally mandated authority.
“When security agencies move to establish the facts, secure possible evidence, identify persons of interest and determine whether offences have been committed, how does the very act of investigation become arbitrary?” Hamasaka asked.
The government said the suspects had been charged and that their families and lawyers would be granted access to them.
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But the continued detention of opposition-linked figures, coupled with the reported absence from public view of TONSE Alliance presidential candidate, Brian Mundubile and his running mate, Makebi Zulu, has fuelled concern among their associates and supporters.
Hamasaka said investigations must be allowed to proceed professionally and impartially within the law and that where sufficient evidence exists, cases should be taken before the courts.
He also said any loss of life connected to security operations was deeply regrettable, but warned against using expressions of regret to obstruct investigations into what he described as grave threats to national security.
The government has maintained that Zambia’s democracy would be protected not by weakening the rule of law, but by applying it firmly and without fear or favour.
The contrasting accounts of the Kabulonga operation now place the focus on whether authorities can substantiate the allegations against those detained and whether the evidence recovered during the operation would withstand judicial scrutiny.
For the families and political associates of those detained, the immediate questions remain the identity and whereabouts of the people government said were arrested, the charges against each suspect, and when they will appear before a court.
The government said investigations were continuing.
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