<\/p>\n
The incident has attracted international attention, with the European Union, SADC, the African Union, the Commonwealth and the United Nations calling for transparency, restraint and accountability as investigations continue.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Authorities have rejected the allegations. Police Inspector General Graphael Musamba has maintained that security forces were conducting an operation against a suspected militia group.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, Member of Parliament Emmanuel Banda questioned the official account, arguing that events surrounding the operation have raised serious concerns.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to Banda, opposition party structures conducted parallel vote tabulations after polling stations completed counting.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking to Channel Africa on Thursday, Banda claimed the opposition’s tally showed Mundubile leading the Presidential election before the Electoral Commission of Zambia temporarily suspended the counting process. “By morning, we had seen that we had won the election with 58%, beating the incumbent with 30-something percent,” Banda said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Banda said the suspension of counting was unprecedented and contributed to growing suspicion among opposition supporters. “It has never happened in the history of our country for the Electoral Commission of Zambia to suspend elections,” Banda said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Banda suggested the subsequent raid on Mundubile’s residence was linked to the disputed electoral process, rejecting the government’s assertion that security forces were pursuing a militia group. “Everyone was at home with their families and friends. I don’t think you can start practising militia activities while you’re with kids at home, with your wife and everyone,” Banda said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Banda also questioned the handling of the death of Mutotwe Kafwaya, a former Minister and close associate of Mundubile who was reportedly killed during the operation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Banda alleged authorities delayed acknowledging Kafwaya’s death. “If indeed it was a militia group they were following, they were supposed to declare it the same day,” Banda said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Why did they have to take five days to announce the death of Hon. Mutotwe Kafwaya?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Banda further claimed that several members of Mundubile’s security detail remain unaccounted for. “The government has only accounted for six. The other are still missing,” Banda said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Banda called on authorities to provide a full explanation of the events and account for those reportedly detained or missing following the operation. “What is supposed to happen now is for the government to own up to whatever they have done and apologise to the nation,” Banda said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Zambian government has not accepted the allegations and continues to maintain that the operation formed part of a legitimate security intervention.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":43418,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-43416","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Political tensions in Zambia have intensified following allegations by National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Progress presidential candidate Brian Mundubile that state security operatives attempted to assassinate Mundubile during a raid on a residence in Kabulonga.","published_date":"","news_description":"Political tensions in Zambia have intensified following allegations by National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Progress presidential candidate Brian Mundubile that state security operatives attempted to assassinate Mundubile during a raid on a residence in Kabulonga.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43419,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43416\/revisions\/43419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=43416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}