SHADOW GAMES IN MOSCOW….as Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance triggers security alarm after elite bodyguards vanish at KKIA By DAVID KANDUZA A HIGH-STAKES security gamble turns into a vanishing act, exposing the murky world of private VVIP details and strict State security laws in Zambia. Tonse Alliance presidential affairs chairperson Binwell Mpundu has claimed that security personnel sent […]

SHADOW GAMES IN MOSCOW
….as Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance triggers security alarm after elite bodyguards vanish at KKIA

By DAVID KANDUZA
A HIGH-STAKES security gamble turns into a vanishing act, exposing the murky world of private VVIP details and strict State security laws in Zambia.

Tonse Alliance presidential affairs chairperson Binwell Mpundu has claimed that security personnel sent to Russia for elite VVIP training to protect NRPUP presidential candidate Brian Mundubile had gone missing.

According to Mr Mpundu during a press briefing today August 3, 2026, the guards successfully cleared immigration at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) but vanished shortly after, sparking fears of allegedly State-sponsored abductions amid a highly charged election campaign.

The men had travelled to Russia to acquire advanced close protection and threat-assessment skills.

Their primary assignment was to protect NRPUP presidential candidate Brian Mundubile and his running mate, Makebi Zulu, amid rising concerns over opposition safety.

Russia’s State security apparatus offers world-class training in counter-surveillance, high-threat convoy extraction and aggressive close-protection drills.

Under the Zambia Police Act, official State VIP and VVIP protection details such as Aides-de-Camps were exclusively provided and trained by State organs like the Zambia Police Service at the Lilayi Police Training College.

Private individuals and foreign-trained guards cannot carry automatic military-grade firearms and must strictly comply with civilian licensing under the Firearms Act.

Private security personnel were legally restricted to defensive, civilian close protection and prohibited from conducting State-style intelligence collection, counter-intelligence, or setting up aggressive tactical blockades.

A former Government security expert queried if claims where true stated that such individuals who independently undergo advanced paramilitary or VVIP protection training in foreign countries like Russia were viewed as a direct national security threat by the State.

He said the State security apparatus did not view them as simple bodyguards, but rather as highly trained, armed tacticians operating outside the command structure of the security forces.

“The primary reasons the State considers them a danger, and why they were intercepted and allegedly ‘abducted’ at the airport, stem from tactical, legal and intense electoral considerations,” he said