FEAR AND TERROR GRIP NAMWALA

Businessman recounts flight through neighbouring homes, alleged abduction and machete attack before spending 18 hours alone in the bushBy BARNABAS ZULU in NAMWALACATTLE move freely through Namwala’s streets as residents go about their daily business. On the surface, life in the rural town appears quiet and ordinary. But behind that familiar scene lies a disturbing account of a businessman pursued through neighbouring homes, dragged from a children’s bedroom, bundled into a vehicle and allegedly attacked with machetes before being abandoned in the bush.For 35-year-old Trust Kahare, the events of September 20, 2026, turned an apparently routine inquiry at his home into a desperate flight for safety.Now recovering at a safe house in Monze, Mr Kahare has described to Daily Nation an ordeal that has raised serious questions about political violence, personal security and the identities of the men he says hunted him down.His account includes a chase across residential properties, armed men in a Toyota Hilux, questions about his political allegiance and telephone instructions allegedly directing his captors to take him outside Namwala District.Police say investigations are continuing. Those accused of involvement have denied responsibility, or their alleged connections have not been established by Daily Nation.An inquiry at the doorMr Kahare says the ordeal began when three men arrived at his home asking for someone identified as Mr Mwansa.“Three people came, gentlemen, and then they asked me, Mr Kahare, do you know where Mr Mwansa stays?” he recalled.He told them that he did not know Mr Mwansa and directed them towards a woman at the hospital who might be able to help.At first, the encounter appeared to be an ordinary request for directions. After the men left, however, Mr Kahare says he became suspicious. He followed them towards the hospital before returning home.About an hour later, he says, two vehicles pulled up outside his house: a white Toyota Hilux and a grey vehicle with tinted windows.From his kitchen window, Mr Kahare watched their arrival.“I peeped through the window in the kitchen,” he said. “These vehicles are not ordinary.”He says a man stepped out of the white Hilux, aggressively opened his gate and advanced towards the main entrance.Mr Kahare did not wait for him to reach the door.He says he fled through the back of the house, jumped over a wire fence belonging to his neighbour, Mr Mweemba Wise, a teacher at Namwala Secondary School, and kept running.What followed, according to his account and that of a neighbour, was a pursuit through the residential neighbourhood as several men followed him.Pursued into a neighbour’s houseThe chase took Mr Kahare to the home of another neighbour, who had just returned from a funeral.The neighbour, who spoke to Daily Nation on condition of anonymity, said he initially did not realise that the person being chased was Mr Kahare. What he saw was a man seeking refuge while several people pursued him.“I just saw the people were chasing him,” the source said.He said Mr Kahare jumped over a fence and entered his property, with the pursuing men following closely behind.Two vehicles subsequently arrived, the neighbour said. One of the men then demanded that he go inside the house and bring Mr Kahare out.“He said, just get inside and bring him,” the source recalled.The neighbour questioned the demand. He said he did not understand what the pursuit was about or why he should surrender someone who had sought shelter in his home.According to the source, the men eventually entered the house themselves and searched several rooms.Mr Kahare says he had hidden in a children’s bedroom, hoping to escape discovery. But the men found him.He alleges that they beat him, dragged him outside and forced him into the white Toyota Hilux.The house in which he had sought refuge had become the place where, he says, his pursuers caught him.Questions about political allegianceMr Kahare estimates that about 11 men were involved in the operation.Inside the vehicle, he says, some of the men carried guns. He alleges that he was restrained and questioned about his political activities as the vehicle drove away.According to Mr Kahare, the men referred to President Hakainde Hichilema and accused him of being untruthful about his political allegiance.He further alleges that telephone calls were received during the journey, including instructions that he should not be left within Namwala District.“The phone call came to say, do not drop him from Namwala District. Take him away from the district,” he said.Daily Nation has not established who allegedly made those calls or independently verified the instructions Mr Kahare says he heard.He says the vehicle travelled towards Bweengwa before turning off the main road near a bridge known as Mbeza.From there, according to his account, he was taken into the bush, where another group of men was waiting.A hand raised against the bladesMr Kahare alleges that the men attacked him with machetes.He says he raised his hand to shield his head as the blows came.“These gentlemen wanted to hammer me from the head,” he said, describing how he tried to protect himself.According to Mr Kahare, the attack left him seriously injured. He says it ended only after one of the men ordered the others to abandon him.The group then drove away, he alleges, leaving him in the bush.With his attackers gone, Mr Kahare says he called for help. No one came.“18 hours, no one came to my aid,” he said.He says he remained there through the night, eventually sleeping in the bush before trying to crawl towards the road the following day.His account describes a struggle first to survive the alleged assault and then to reach anyone who could assist him.A man tending animals eventually discovered him and alerted other people, who contacted the police.Mr Kahare says police initially indicated that they did not have a vehicle. Transport was subsequently provided, and he was taken for medical attention.Accusations and denialsThe alleged attack has become intertwined with Namwala’s political contest.Mr Kahare has accused Namwala Town Council chairperson Abel Moonga, Namwala West Member of Parliament Herbert Mapani and Mr Joseph Chimpindi of being connected to the incident.The allegations have either been denied by those concerned or have not been established by Daily Nation. The identity of the attackers and responsibility for the alleged operation remain under investigation.Mr Moonga rejected any suggestion that he was connected to the attack.Official Namwala Town Council material identifies him as council chairperson, while parliamentary listings identify Mr Mapani as the UPND Member of Parliament for Namwala West.Mr Moonga also denied threatening Mr Kahare. He said remarks he made during the campaign encouraging people to support President Hichilema were political appeals rather than threats.“There’s no link to my brother,” he said.He suggested that, if the perpetrators were identified, they could turn out to be individuals with whom Mr Kahare had been working. That suggestion, too, remains unestablished.Asked about allegations that he had declared himself the “President of Namwala,” Mr Moonga rejected that characterisation.“I’m number one,” he said, explaining that he regarded the council chairperson as the district’s number one citizen.Mr Moonga further denied claims that either he or his wife had threatened Mr Kahare during the election campaign.He said Mr Kahare had criticised and insulted him on social media, but that he had chosen not to retaliate because political competition should remain peaceful.He also disputed suggestions that he would have had reason to attack Mr Kahare after the election.“If I was a bad man, if I had reacted, my brother, I would have reacted the time when we were campaigning,” Mr Moonga said.The first alarmMr Lawrence Chiinda, the independent candidate whom Mr Kahare says he supported, raised the alarm shortly after the alleged abduction.In a statement issued at the time, Mr Chiinda identified Mr Kahare as a member of his campaign team and said unknown people had pursued him from his home before abducting him.“Confirmed reports indicate that one of my campaign team members Trust Kahare was abducted by unknown people at around 11:00 hrs,” Mr Chiinda said in the statement.He reported that Mr Kahare had fled his home, been caught at a neighbouring house, beaten and bundled into a vehicle that sped away along the Choma–Namwala Road.Mr Chiinda also alleged that Mr Kahare had previously received threats from a known politician.He said Mr Kahare had told him that he had reported the threats in Choma, where an occurrence book entry had allegedly been made. Daily Nation has not established the contents or status of that reported entry.Appealing to anyone with information to contact the police, Mr Chiinda ended his statement with an anguished message:“Namwala Bleeds. Cry my beloved Namwala.”Police investigateNamwala Officer-in-Charge Joseph Sichande told Daily Nation that investigations remained active and that police had not reached their conclusions.“We are still investigating the matter. We have done due diligence. We have visited the crime scene and gotten statements from the victim,” he said.Mr Sichande said police would inform the public of their findings once the investigation was complete.“Once everything is done then we will tell the public what happened,” he said.His comments leave several crucial questions unanswered.Who were the three men who first arrived at Mr Kahare’s home asking about Mr Mwansa? Was that inquiry connected to the pursuit that followed?Who organised the men Mr Kahare says chased him through the neighbourhood? Who owned or controlled the vehicles allegedly used to take him away?Who, if anyone, gave the telephone instructions he describes? Who were the men allegedly waiting in the bush, and who carried out the machete attack?Those questions require evidence, including witness accounts and any available records that could establish the movements of the vehicles and the identities of the people involved.The investigation must also determine whether the alleged assault was politically motivated, as Mr Kahare maintains, or whether another explanation emerges.For now, Mr Kahare is alive and recovering. His account, supported in part by a neighbour’s description of the pursuit and search, presents a disturbing picture of a man fleeing his home, losing the protection of a neighbour’s shelter and eventually being left injured in the bush.Against Namwala’s outward calm, that account demands a thorough investigation and clear answers.Responsibility, however, must be established through evidence. Neither the gravity of Mr Kahare’s allegations nor the force of the denials can substitute for determining who committed the attack and bringing those responsible before the law.

Longwe threatens to sue Chief Justice

Chester, Felix, IDC finally granted bail

ZNBC journalist Mukuka released from police c...

We’re looking into accusation of misconduct a...

Independent candidates free to file nominatio...