WHO KILLED KAFWAYA
…Slain ex-minister family fumes, demands answers
By Thandizo Banda
CHIEF Mpepo of Kanchibiya District in Northern Province has demanded accountability from government over the death of former transport and communications minister Mutotwe Kafwaya.
Kafwaya died after being shot at by state agents on August 14 hours after closure of voting.
Addressing family members and other village elders during the post-burial rite called Isambo lya Mfwa in Lunte, Chief Mpepo demanded closure to the killing of Kafwaya.
He said the chiefdom demanded to know who killed Kafwaya and under whose authority was he killed.
“Tulefwaya ukwishiba uwamwipeye no koca ifyakufwala fyakwe no wamupele insambu [We demand to know who killed our son and who took away his clothes and burnt them. We want to know where those cloths are],” Chief Mpepo said.
He said both the family and the country had the right to know who authorised the shooting and killing of Kafwaya and why he was killed.
No one had the right to take a life.
Chief Mpepo also demanded to know the type of weapons government said it found at opposition leader Brian Mundubile’s house on August 14, which led to the killing of Kafwaya during the operation.
“We cannot bury our son and remain in the dark. Government must give us answers. We just heard that they found weapons; let them show the nation those weapons they found on them. It is tradition and precedent that whenever they find such weapons, they display to the nation, but in Mutotwe’s killing we are still waiting to see the weapons they found that warranted the killing of our son,” he said.
Kafwaya was shot dead by soldiers during a raid at the residence of opposition leader Brian Mundubile in Lusaka’s Kabulonga suburb on August 14.
The government has taken responsibility for the shooting and must provide the answers.