Katele Kalumba arrested over August 11 statement against Hichilema
Breaking News Zambia
NewsLUSAKA – Former Finance Minister Dr Katele Kalumba has been arrested and charged with harassment under the Cyber Crimes Act after police linked him to electronic content published two days before Zambia’s August 13 general election in which he strongly criticised President Hakainde Hichilema. The Zambia Police Service says Dr Kalumba was apprehended in Chienge […]
LUSAKA – Former Finance Minister Dr Katele Kalumba has been arrested and charged with harassment under the Cyber Crimes Act after police linked him to electronic content published two days before Zambia’s August 13 general election in which he strongly criticised President Hakainde Hichilema.
The Zambia Police Service says Dr Kalumba was apprehended in Chienge on September 23 and formally charged and arrested on September 24 at Kabwe Central Police Station.
Police said the charge relates to an August 11 publication which allegedly contained electronic content intended to humiliate President Hichilema.
Dr Kalumba has since been released on police bond and is expected to appear in court.
The charge brings into focus a highly critical statement the veteran politician directed at Mr Hichilema just 48 hours before Zambians went to the polls.
What did Kalumba say on August 11?
In the statement, Dr Kalumba addressed President Hichilema directly, questioning his responsibility as Head of State to protect citizens holding political views different from those of the Government.
He said he was particularly concerned about what he described as abductions, deaths and attacks involving people expressing opposing political views.
“What is happening now is not in the interest of our country, and I believe that you are at the helm of it,” Kalumba said, according to the statement reported at the time.
He told the President that the responsibility for protecting the lives of Zambians rested with the Head of State under the Constitution.
“I don’t know what your job is if you cannot protect the lives of Zambians who are expressing a different opinion from you, and to provide leadership different from you,” he said.
Dr Kalumba also spoke about his previous relationship with Mr Hichilema, saying he had once considered him a good man and had supported him during the 2015 political period.
But he said his view of the President had since changed.
“I’m disappointed, because I thought you were a good man,” he said.
The former minister went on to make several highly personal accusations against President Hichilema, including saying that the President was “pretentious” and comparing his leadership unfavourably with that of late President Edgar Lungu.
Some of the more serious allegations made in the statement were not accompanied by specific evidence in the recording and remain allegations made by Dr Kalumba, rather than established facts.
Why the August 11 statement matters
The timing is significant.
Dr Kalumba’s statement was made on August 11, just two days before the August 13 presidential and general elections.
It came during the final stage of a highly contested campaign, when political tensions and accusations involving the treatment of opposition figures had become prominent in public debate.
At the time, Kalumba’s intervention was therefore political commentary delivered immediately before voters went to the polls.
Now, more than six weeks later, police have identified that same August 11 publication as the basis of a criminal complaint.
According to police, the complaint was lodged at Kabwe Central Police Station on September 10 by a 29-year-old man identified as Albert Munjulunji.
Police subsequently opened a docket and commenced investigations.
The law under which Kalumba has been charged
Police have charged Dr Kalumba under Section 22 of the Cyber Crimes Act No. 4 of 2025, which deals with harassment, humiliation and related conduct using computers or computer systems.
The provision covers, among other things, the dissemination of information, statements or images that a person knows to be false where the material causes damage to another person’s reputation or subjects that person to public ridicule, contempt, hatred or embarrassment.
A person convicted under the relevant provision can face a fine of up to 200,000 penalty units, imprisonment of up to two years, or both.
The Act came into force on May 12, 2025, meaning it was already in operation when the alleged August 2026 publication was made.
It is important, however, that the police allegation is not a finding of guilt. Dr Kalumba has been charged, and the matter is expected to proceed to court.
The arrest follows reports of his pickup in Chienge
The arrest also follows a separate development reported on September 23.
Dr Kalumba’s wife said he had been picked up from his residence in Chienge by armed men whom she identified as soldiers.
She said he was taken first to Chienge Police Station and later transported towards Mansa.
At the time, the identity and purpose of the people who picked him up had not been independently established.
Police have now confirmed that Dr Kalumba was apprehended in Chienge on September 23, before being formally charged and arrested the following day at Kabwe Central Police Station.
The police statement does not describe the people who apprehended him as soldiers.
Kalumba had remained publicly vocal
The arrest comes after Dr Kalumba continued making public interventions on Zambia’s post-election political situation.
On September 22, he issued an appeal to President Hichilema calling for the release of people detained in connection with post-election-related cases, including Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu and Xavier Franklin Chungu.
In that appeal, Kalumba presented himself as a voice for reconciliation, constitutional order and dialogue.
He also recently questioned what he described as activities involving armed men visiting his lodge in the early hours of the morning and appealed to the Director General of Intelligence to “slow this down.”
Those developments preceded his reported pickup in Chienge.
From election-day criticism to a cybercrime charge
The sequence of events is therefore important.
On August 11, Dr Kalumba publicly addressed President Hichilema in a strongly worded political statement.
On September 10, according to police, a complaint concerning the electronic publication was lodged at Kabwe Central Police Station.
On September 23, police say Kalumba was apprehended in Chienge.
On September 24, he was formally charged and arrested at Kabwe Central Police Station and subsequently released on police bond.
The next significant step will be his appearance before court, where the prosecution will have an opportunity to set out the specific allegations and evidence supporting the charge.
For now, the police have characterised the matter as a cybercrime involving alleged harassment of the President. Dr Kalumba remains entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence unless and until a court determines otherwise.
Zambian Eye will follow the matter as it moves to court.
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