M’membe demands inquest into Kafwaya’s death

….Socialist Party leader asks DPP to seek a High Court order, secure disclosure of forensic reports and establish whether police notified a coroner.

By NATION REPORTER

SOCIALIST Party president Fred M’membe has formally asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to seek a High Court order for an inquest into the death of former Transport and Commucations Minister Mutotwe Kafwaya, saying nearly three months have passed without a public judicial examination of the circumstances surrounding his death.

In a letter dated November 11, 2026, Dr M’membe called on the DPP to make or authorise an application under Section 33(1)(a) of the Inquests Act for an inquiry into the death of the former Lunte Member of Parliament during a security operation in Kabulonga, Lusaka.

He also asked the DPP to establish whether police had notified a coroner and to facilitate the release of postmortem and ballistic reports to Mr Kafwaya’s family and their lawyers.

According to Dr M’membe’s letter, Mr Kafwaya died on August 14 during a joint security operation at a house in Kabulonga.

He said the Inspector General of Police confirmed on August 19 that the former minister had been fatally wounded during the operation.

Dr M’membe said to the best of public knowledge, no inquest had been opened, despite the passage of nearly three months.

A postmortem examination had been conducted, he said, but its findings had not been made public. He also said the family had complained that it was unable to have a pathologist of its own present during the examination.

Dr M’membe questioned why the authorities had announced action against people found at the house while the force that caused Mr Kafwaya’s death had not undergone comparable judicial scrutiny.

He said Government announced on August 16 that 11 people present at the house had been arrested and would face charges.

“No comparable step has been taken to examine, before any court, the use of force that caused Hon. Kafwaya’s death,” Dr M’membe wrote.

He argued that the Inquests Act provided a clear mechanism for investigating a death of this nature and that the DPP should invoke the High Court’s powers to ensure an inquiry took place.

Citing Section 4 of the Act, Mr M’membe said a coroner who was credibly informed of reasonable grounds to suspect a violent or unnatural death was required to hold an inquest as soon as practicable.

He also cited Section 12, which required a police officer who became aware of such a death to notify a coroner with jurisdiction.

Dr M’membe consequently asked the DPP to establish directly from the Inspector General whether that notification had been made and, if so, on what date.

Addressing possible grounds for postponing an inquest, he said Section 6 concerned circumstances in which someone had been, or was about to be, charged with the murder or manslaughter of the deceased.

“To our knowledge no person has been so charged. Nothing in the Act therefore stands in the way of an inquest,” he argued.

Dr M’membe also invoked the constitutional protection of the right to life, saying the central question was whether the force used during the Kabulonga operation met the applicable constitutional standard.

Referring to Article 12, he argued that any use of force had to be reasonably justifiable in the circumstances.

“Whether that standard was met in Kabulonga is a question that only an open judicial inquiry can properly answer,” he wrote.

Dr M’membe also cited the right-to-life provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arguing that Zambia’s international obligations required prompt, independent and transparent investigation of deaths caused by State agents.

The letter placed particular emphasis on the DPP’s constitutional independence.

Dr M’membe cited Article 180(7), saying the office was protected from direction or control by any person or authority and was required to consider the public interest.

“I ask nothing of it on behalf of my party. I ask only that the law be followed,” he said.

“The family of Hon. Kafwaya, and the people of Zambia, look to your office to act without fear or favour.”

Dr M’membe said he would make the letter public because of the matter’s national importance and would also publish the DPP’s response when received.

The correspondence was copied to the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, the Inspector General of Police and Mr Kafwaya’s family.

The material supplied for this report did not include a response from the DPP or police, the postmortem findings or the ballistic report.

Ends.