NRPUP goes on rampage with disinformation

AS the country awaits the final election results, NRPUP-aligned social media pages have gone on a rampage, circulating a series of wild claims about presidential candidate Brian Mundubile and other political figures, including claims that Mundubile had died. The social media pages have in recent days published claims ranging from Mundubile being placed under house […]

AS the country awaits the final election results, NRPUP-aligned social media pages have gone on a rampage, circulating a series of wild claims about presidential candidate Brian Mundubile and other political figures, including claims that Mundubile had died.

The social media pages have in recent days published claims ranging from Mundubile being placed under house arrest to reports that he had been shot and was receiving treatment, while also claiming that Tasila Lungu’s husband, Mwansa, had been killed.

A page called Chair The Voice of Zambia and another called The Candidate yesterday initially reported that Mundubile had died, but later changed the claim, saying he was alive but had allegedly been shot and injured and was receiving treatment at Force Headquarters.

Meanwhile, the NRPUP media team claimed that Mundubile had been picked up by police yesterday and detained at Ibex Police Station, with Emmanuel Mwamba initially making the claim and attaching an old video of Mundubile at the same station before later deleting the post.

However, a News Diggers check at Ibex Police Station at 19:00 hours yesterday found no evidence that Mundubile was being detained there. Police spokesperson Godfrey Chilabi also refuted the claim, saying the reports were false.

Away from the social media claims, Mundubile himself posted that he was being interrogated by Zambia Army officers over two videos he had released earlier in the day.

“Just to confirm that I am being interrogated by officers from the Zambia Army over the two videos I released earlier today. I appeal for calm from all our supporters as we allow the due process to proceed,” wrote Mundubile.

His running mate, Makebi Zulu, separately claimed that Mundubile and his family had been picked up by the military, although the claim could not be independently verified by News Diggers.

Mundubile later appeared on Mwamba’s platform, where he made several claims, including that soldiers had ransacked his house and that Mutotwe Kafwaya had been shot at twice at his residence.

He further claimed that the incident was an attempt to assassinate him.

Earlier in the day, Mundubile had claimed that he had won the election, a statement which the Electoral Commission of Zambia said was an offence.