Newly Elected MP Munthali still Critically Ill After Alleged Abduction-Katebe

Newly Elected MP Munthali Critically Ill After Alleged Abduction Mafinga South Member of Parliament Faith Munthali is critically ill in Isoka General Hospital after being allegedly abducted and detained following her August election victory over Patriotic Front faction leader…

Newly Elected MP Munthali Critically Ill After Alleged Abduction

Mafinga South Member of Parliament Faith Munthali is critically ill in Isoka General Hospital after being allegedly abducted and detained following her August election victory over Patriotic Front faction leader Robert Chabinga.

Munthali, who stood on the Citizens First (CF) ticket, defeated Chabinga, who ran on the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) ticket, by a wide margin when results were announced on August 15.

Citizens First Acting President Mary Zambezi said the trouble facing Munthali began well before her abduction, during a campaign in which tensions between the two camps ran high.

She said Munthali’s core team in Mafinga South had been arrested during the campaign on charges of holding what were described as offensive weapons, a move the party viewed as intimidation rather than a genuine security concern.

Zambezi said that after her win, Munthali appeared on the ELV Podcast and publicly voiced fear that Chabinga had plotted to abduct her, specifically to prevent her from being sworn in as the new MP.

Those fears came to pass on September 11. At around 14:00 hours, about 12 men travelling in four vehicles stormed a residence in Ndola where Munthali was visiting at the time.

Zambezi said the men showed no identification when they took her away. Her whereabouts remained unknown for roughly a day, leaving her family and party colleagues without word on her condition or location.

She was eventually located at Chinsali Police Station, before being transferred onward to Isoka, where she has since been held.

Muchinga Province Police Commissioner Lubinda Mayamba granted her police bond only after her health deteriorated and she was rushed to hospital. She remains admitted at Isoka General Hospital in a critical condition.

No arrests have been made over the alleged abduction itself, even as Munthali remains hospitalised and her party continues to press for answers over who ordered the operation.

The Non-Governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC), led by board chairperson Beauty Katebe, condemned the harassment in a statement issued on September 12.

A consortium of civil society organisations also condemned Munthali’s arrest and treatment, describing her detention as part of a troubling pattern undermining democracy and the rule of law after the tense August vote.

Speaking for the consortium, LCK Freedom Foundation leader Linda Kasonde said targeting elected lawmakers such as Munthali showed the country was sliding into lawlessness.

Zambezi said Munthali’s only offence was defeating Chabinga at the ballot box.

Munthali has not yet been sworn in as the Member of Parliament for Mafinga South, leaving her constituents without formal representation while she recovers in hospital.