HUNT FOR FUGITIVE EX-LAWMAKER JAY JAY BANDA INTENSIFIES
… ruling party youth leader Trevor Mwiinde vows to track down the escaped former Petauke Central MP at all costs
By DAVID KANDUZA
THE intensifying search for the fugitive former Petauke Central Member of Parliament, Emmanuel ‘Jay Jay’ Banda, has evolved into an uncompromising political storm, with the ruling UPND declaring a relentless hunt that will cross any frontier to bring him to book.
Speaking authoritatively on the State’s hunting efforts, UPND deputy national youth chairperson Trevor Mwiinde threw down the gauntlet with a chillingly poetic warning.
“We will find Emmanuel Jay Banda, whether it is in the water or anywhere he hides,” he revealed on Crown Television in Lusaka.
The declaration elevated an already sensational saga into a high-octane political thriller, turning the spotlight back onto a lawmaker whose career had veered wildly between national representative, alleged abduction victim and international fugitive.
The saga originally exploded into the public domain in the early hours of May 25, 2024, when Mr Banda vanished under mysterious circumstances, sparking nationwide panic, allegations of State involvement and fierce opposition protests.
Found days later badly bruised, his legal woes escalated when the State slapped him with grave charges, including an aggravated robbery dating back to 2015.
However, the real shockwave struck in August 2024, while receiving treatment under police guard at Chipata Central Hospital, Mr Banda pulled off a daring escape through a facility window, slipping cleanly into the wilderness.
The escape triggered a massive cross-border manhunt that led to his eventual apprehension by Zimbabwean police at a rented flat in Harare in November 2024.
Yet, even with Interpol involved and extradition formalities initiated, Mr Banda’s fate remained entangled in complex regional legal battles and human rights interventions.
Opposition figures, led by former president Edgar Lungu, continued to frame the hunt as political persecution, while the State maintained it was a standard pursuit of a fugitive fleeing justice.
Mr Mwiinde’s unyielding public warning directly responds to explosive counter-accusations leveled by Mr Banda.
Before his latest evasion of definitive custody, the former MP sensationally named prominent political figures—including Mr Mwiinde himself, State House Political Advisor Levy Ngoma and Communications Specialist Clayson Hamasaka—as the forces behind his original abduction.
For the ruling party’s youth wing, the rhetoric had moved past simple judicial procedure.
The vow to pull Mr Banda from ‘the water’ reflected the State’s broader determination to dismantle what it labelled as coordinated theatrics by former Patriotic Front (PF) cadres aiming to destabilise public confidence.
As law enforcement coordinates across regional borders, the statement from the UPND leadership signals a clear message: for the elusive ‘Jay Jay’ Banda, the grid was shrinking rapidly and the authorities would stop at nothing to secure his final return.
Bagwila already. He is on his way back… kikikikikikiki.