The treason case against Zambia's election runner-up is now being fought at a prison gate. Mukobeko Maximum Security Correctional Facility in Kabwe has barred visitors from seeing detained opposition leaders Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu and the 16 people charged alongside them, Lusaka Times reported on Wednesday, citing encounters at the facility this week.
The eighteen were charged with treason at the end of August, after Mundubile — who officially took 38 percent of the vote to President Hakainde Hichilema's 60 percent on 13 August — surrendered to police following two weeks in hiding, part of it under United Nations protection in Lusaka. Treason is a non-bailable offence in Zambia, triable only before the High Court. No date for a first plea has been announced.
Police spokesman Godfrey Chilabi confirmed the eighteen charges at the time, according to the Zambia Daily Mail. The accused include businessman Valden Findlay and Patrick Mwansa, husband of Tasila Lungu, daughter of the late president. The state says its investigation continues; it has not publicly detailed the allegations behind the charge.
The access dispute is not new — only sharper. The accused have already sued the state over their detention conditions, and their lawyers have publicly quarrelled with the authorities over transfer warrants and access, disputes Lusaka Brief has chronicled. Defence counsel say preparing a case of this gravity without reliable access to their clients is impossible; the authorities have previously cited security procedures at a maximum-security facility.
"How the State holds people is now the trial before the trial — and it is being conducted in public."
Lusaka Brief sought comment from the Zambia Correctional Service and the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday evening; neither had responded by the time of publication.
Confirmed vs. alleged
Confirmed: Eighteen people, including Mundubile and Zulu, face treason charges and are held at Mukobeko; the charge is non-bailable; no plea date has been set. Visitors were turned away at the facility this week, according to reporting by Lusaka Times.
Alleged / contested: The reasons for the visitor bar have not been officially stated. The underlying allegations behind the treason charge remain undisclosed by the prosecution, and the accused deny them wholesale as fabricated.
Sources: Lusaka Times, "Prison gate shut on visitors to Mundubile, Makebi Zulu" (23 Sep 2026); Reuters (30 Aug 2026); AFP via France 24 (30 Aug 2026); Anadolu Agency / Zambia Daily Mail (31 Aug 2026); BBC News (30 Aug 2026); Lusaka Brief archive.
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