'Take them to court or release them — you can't have it both ways': Laura Miti's ultimatum over the Kafwaya silence

The pressure on the state over the death of Mutotwe Kafwaya and the detention of eighteen opposition figures tightened on Thursday, as human rights activist Laura Miti issued a blunt public ultimatum: take Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu to court, or release them. "You can't have it both ways," she said.

Kafwaya, a former Cabinet minister and opposition figure, died during a security operation in the aftermath of the disputed 13 August election. More than a month later, Miti said, the public still has no official account of how he died. "The State has been mute," she said. "We need information from the State, and that information only comes when everybody who was arrested around that issue is taken to court, or when we are simply given the information."

Her argument cuts in both directions. The absence of an official account, she said, leaves the authorities exposed to "the very first conclusion" of citizens and the international community alike — that a man was killed unlawfully. "None of us at this point can categorically say Mr Kafwaya was shot unlawfully. And that is wrong, because we are running into over a month now. Why don't we know? Why does the State find it possible to hold back this kind of information?"

The European Parliament has called for an independent and transparent investigation into the death. Miti questioned who could credibly conduct one where the conduct of state security agencies is itself in issue, noting that even a commission of inquiry answers to the government that appoints it. She recalled that Zambia once brought in British investigators in a matter involving former president Frederick Chiluba.

"There are only two things that the State must do. Take the people to court or release them. You can't have it both ways."

Both roads, she warned, carry a cost. Release without charge would leave the authorities explaining why a man died, why arrests were made at all and why the detained spent weeks in cells. A prosecution on weak evidence would invite the same reckoning: "Is this the evidence for which someone died? Is this the evidence for which you kept people in cells?" Naming Mundubile, Zulu and Bishop Mwamba among those held, she added: "Government had better have evidence against these people, and had better be able to justify why someone was shot dead."

Her message to the ruling party was unsparing. "The Government, the President, the UPND should know that if Mr Mundubile and Mr Zulu come out of those cells not having been taken to court, or the evidence adduced in court is flimsy, all of us in our minds will know that a great abuse of power has happened here."

The eighteen were charged with treason at the end of August and are held at Mukobeko Maximum Security Correctional Facility in Kabwe, where visitors were turned away this week, as Lusaka Brief reported on Thursday. Treason is non-bailable and triable only before the High Court; no plea date has been set. Asked whether the Director of Public Prosecutions was behind the delay, Miti said she did not know — but that someone within law enforcement owed the public an answer.

Sources: Lusaka Times, "Charge Mundubile And Zulu Or Free Them, Miti Tells State Over Kafwaya Death" (24 Sep 2026); Lusaka Brief archive (Mukobeko visitor bar, 24 Sep 2026; treason charges, Aug–Sep 2026).