UN hands Mundubile, Makebi to authorities as militia probe closes in on Tonse

BREAKING | UN hands Mundubile, Makebi to authorities as militia probe closes in on Tonse Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu are now being interrogated by Zambian authorities after leaving United Nations premises in Lusaka, where they had sought protection amid fears of arrest following the disputed security operation at Mundubile’s Kabulonga residence. Their questioning follows […]

BREAKING | UN hands Mundubile, Makebi to authorities as militia probe closes in on Tonse

Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu are now being interrogated by Zambian authorities after leaving United Nations premises in Lusaka, where they had sought protection amid fears of arrest following the disputed security operation at Mundubile’s Kabulonga residence.

Their questioning follows engagements between the UN and the Zambian government over the case. Authorities had presented their position on the intelligence investigation and previously assured the organisation that Mundubile and Makebi would be accorded due process.

The two have now been handed over to the authorities to answer questions surrounding the investigation.

At the centre of the probe are government allegations of an illegal militia network, foreign links and military training outside Zambia.

Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa previously said some individuals under investigation had been monitored for about two years and were allegedly connected to “military plans involving foreign nationals and illegal military training camps.”

Police have also linked their inquiries to the August 14 operation at Mundubile’s Kabulonga residence, where former minister Mutotwe Kafwaya was shot and later died.

Eleven people were apprehended during the operation, including former commandos and retired police officers, while authorities reported recovering AK-47 rifles, ammunition, an automatic UZI, tactical equipment and other material.

Mundubile has disputed the government’s account. He maintains Kafwaya was shot inside his bedroom and has rejected the central allegation underpinning the investigation. “There was no militia. There is no militia,” he said in an earlier statement.

Another strand investigators have been examining concerns reports of opposition-linked personnel receiving military or security training in Russia.

Binwell Mpundu had previously spoken publicly about Russian-trained bodyguards before the election, an issue which has acquired greater significance as authorities widen their security inquiries.

Mpundu himself remains away from public view, with his whereabouts not publicly established. He has, however, continued posting on social media, including messages calling on supporters to “defend democracy.”

The investigation has therefore moved closer to the top of the Tonse leadership. Mundubile and Makebi are now before investigators.

Binwell remains out of public view. And the militia and foreign-training allegations which began around the Kabulonga operation are increasingly becoming the central security story surrounding the former opposition alliance.

This is a developing story.

-The People’s Brief  | Ollus R. Ndomu