A former Zambian government minister, Mutotwe Kafwaya, has been confirmed dead days after a security operation targeting the home of opposition leader Brian Mundubile.
Police said the 49-year-old was fatally wounded on Friday in Lusaka during what they described as a shootout. The raid came one day after Zambia’s presidential election.
According to a police statement on Wednesday, a joint security task force met “gunfire and resistance from unknown individuals” at a house linked to Mundubile. Officers returned fire, and one unidentified man was killed. Family members later identified the man as Kafwaya.
Eleven other people were arrested in the operation. Authorities accused Mundubile’s party, the NRPUP, of “insurgency” and “militia activity” and alleged that “high-grade” weapons were found at the property.
Mundubile has denied the claims, calling them “total fabrications.” He has also gone into hiding. Speaking on Tuesday, he said he had received no information about Kafwaya after the shooting at his residence.
Official results show incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema won a second five-year term with about 60% of the vote. Mundubile finished second with 38% and says he will challenge the results in court, alleging the tallying process was tampered with.
Kafwaya entered parliament in 2016. Under former President Edgar Lungu, he served as Minister of Works in 2018 and then as Minister of Transport in 2019. He remained in parliament as an opposition MP after Lungu lost to Hichilema in 2021.
International observers called election day largely peaceful but flagged concerns ahead of the vote over late electoral reforms, media access, and restrictions on the opposition. The EU observation mission said those restrictions may have led to an “uneven contest.”
