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Government has announced that the family of the late Lunte lawmaker, Mutotwe Kafwaya, has declined an offer for a state funeral and burial honours, two weeks after the former Cabinet Minister was shot dead during a security operation in Lusaka.
In a press statement issued to the media on Thursday, Secretary to the Cabinet, Patrick Kangwa, said the Government had offered to accord the former Minister the funeral and burial honours applicable to his status.
“The Government wishes to inform the nation that it offered to accord the late Hon. Mutotwe Kafwaya the funeral and burial honours applicable to a former Cabinet Minister,” he said.
Kangwa said the late Kafwaya served in two ministerial portfolios during his time in public office.
He was Minister of Works and Supply from 2018 to 2019, and later Minister of Transport and Communications from 2019 to 2021.
“The family, however, respectfully declined the offer by Government and opted to host a private funeral arrangement,” he said.
The Secretary to the Cabinet has since appealed to members of the public to respect the family’s wishes.
“The public is, therefore, requested to respect the wishes of the family. Our prayers go out to the bereaved family,” Kangwa said.
The late Kafwaya, 49, was fatally shot on August 14, 2026 during a joint intelligence-led security operation at the Kabulonga residence of opposition presidential candidate Brian Mundubile, a day after Zambia’s general election.
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According to the Central Joint Operations Committee (CJOC), security forces encountered gunfire and resistance at the premises at around 19:30 hours and returned fire, in which one unidentified man was fatally wounded.
The former Cabinet Minister was taken to hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. However, Kafwaya’s whereabouts remained unconfirmed for several days.
His wife, Dinis Ng’andu Kafwaya, later filed an application in the Lusaka High Court seeking habeas corpus proceedings.
On the evening of August 19, 2026, police confirmed that the deceased had been positively identified by family members as Mutotwe Kafwaya.
Narrating his own side of the story, Brian Mundubile, NRPUP presidential candidate, alleged that the incident occurred days after the general election and involved between 70 and 80 army officers who forced entry into his residence.
He alleged that the officers broke down the gate, doors and windows before opening fire inside the house.
The opposition leader said he was present during the attack and witnessed part of what transpired.
“I saw them shoot my friend twice. They located where I was and fired in my direction two times. Missed actually, part of my hair was scraped off,” Mundubile told broadcaster Martine Dennis.
At the time of his death, Kafwaya was a Member of Parliament for Lunte and a member of the opposition Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance and reports linked him to the opposition alliance supporting Mundubile in the period around the 2026 presidential election.
Kafwaya’s death has drawn calls for an independent investigation with Amnesty International urging Zambian authorities to conduct a prompt, independent and transparent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
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