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Zambia charges opposition leader Mundubile with treason after disputed vote

Lusaka, ZambiaPublished 30 Aug 2026

Aerial view of Lusaka, where Mundubile was detained after a post-election raid and a stay at a UN building.
Aerial view of Lusaka, where Mundubile was detained after a post-election raid and a stay at a UN building.

Icem4k / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Lawyers say Brian Mundubile and running mate Makebi Zulu were charged Saturday after a post-election raid, a UN hideout, and a blocked court challenge. Police cite rifles and an insurgency plot; Mundubile calls the case fabricated.

Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile, runner-up with about 38% to President Hakainde Hichilema’s 60% on Aug. 13, was charged with treason on Saturday, his lawyers said, along with running mate Makebi Zulu. They had surrendered Thursday after hiding at a UN building following a deadly raid on a Lusaka property linked to Mundubile. Police said they found rifles and alleged an insurgency; Mundubile denied it as fabricated. Courts were sealed on the last day to file an election petition. Hichilema is due to be sworn in Sept. 1.

Shared facts

Opposition leader Brian Mundubile has been charged with treason.

Running mate Makebi Zulu was also charged with treason.

Mundubile and Zulu were charged on Saturday.

Mundubile and Zulu remained in custody at Lusaka Central Police Station.

Mundubile was taken into police custody on Thursday.

Mundubile surrendered or handed himself over to police, alongside Zulu.

Police recorded warn-and-caution statements from Mundubile and Zulu, a step that typically precedes formal charges.

Police said Mundubile and Zulu were questioned in connection with an alleged offence of treason.

Mundubile had spent about two weeks in hiding before surrendering.

Mundubile and Zulu took refuge at a United Nations building in Lusaka after the raid.

Mundubile sought safety at an international human rights organisation after the raid.

The presidential election was held on 13 August.

President Hakainde Hichilema was declared the winner with about 60 percent of the vote.

Mundubile finished second with about 38 percent of the vote.

Mundubile disputed the election result and claimed irregularities.

Mundubile vowed to challenge the result in court.

Hichilema is due to be sworn in for a second term on Tuesday, 1 September.

The day after the election, security forces raided a Lusaka property linked to Mundubile.

Former cabinet minister Mutotwe Kafwaya was shot and killed in the raid.

Authorities said 11 people were arrested in the raid.

Police said they found rifles, AK-47s or other military equipment during the raid.

Police accused Mundubile of posing a national security threat.

Authorities accused Mundubile's camp of planning an armed insurgency or militia activity.

Mundubile denied the insurgency allegations and called them fabricated.

Authorities sealed off Zambia's courts on Monday, the final day to file an election petition, citing security reasons.

The court closure prevented Mundubile from filing the planned election challenge in time.

The Constitutional Court said it had not received any petition challenging the election outcome.

Chief Justice Mumba Malila said he had received a petition from a member of the public on his private email.

Malila called the email submission highly irregular but said he had referred it to the Constitutional Court.

Human Rights Watch said shutting the courts was a blow to the administration of law, transparency and due process in Zambia.

BBC News

Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile charged with treason

Wedaeli Chibelushi

Published 30 Aug 2026 accessed 30 Aug 2026

Facts

Katolo said 17 others, including running mate Makebi Zulu, had also been charged with treason.

Katolo told the Zambian Eye that Mundubile looks forward to answering the accusation in court.

Mundubile and Zulu were detained after the president put pressure on the UN to hand them over.

Zambia's Human Rights Commission called for accountability over people whose whereabouts remain unknown after arrests and security operations around the elections.

Regional and international observers described election day as largely peaceful.

Opinion

The BBC said the charge comes amid heightened political tensions in Zambia.

Associated Press

Zambia police arrest opposition leader over alleged treason following disputed election

Associated Press

Published 27 Aug 2026 accessed 30 Aug 2026

Facts

Police said Mundubile and Zulu are being held in custody.

Mundubile said he went into hiding after disputing the election results in fear for his life.

The circumstances of the former minister’s killing in the raid are disputed.

Those arrested in the raid are in custody facing treason charges, authorities said.

Mundubile was present during the raid.

Amnesty International called the killing of former minister Mutotwe Kafwaya in the raid deeply alarming.

U.N. rights chief Volker Turk said he was concerned about arrests of Zambian opposition figures, including some detained before the election.

U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the government assured the United Nations that Mundubile and Zulu would be treated with due process and a fair trial.

Mundubile said irregularities included unauthorized personnel removing vote tally papers from some polling stations.

Vote counting was suspended for hours because of violence at some counting stations and what the electoral commission called theft of ballot boxes.

Dujarric added that the U.N. would monitor the situation closely.

The electoral commission did not say who was responsible for the alleged theft of ballot boxes.

Opinion

The Associated Press described the vote as an unusually troubled presidential election in a country with a history of largely peaceful votes.

Al Jazeera

Zambia opposition leader questioned over ‘treason’ amid election fallout

Al Jazeera Staff

Published 27 Aug 2026 accessed 30 Aug 2026

Facts

Zambian state media said Mundubile surrendered to police in Lusaka on August 27.

Mundubile and Zulu were interviewed by police officers alongside their lawyers.

Treason is a serious offence in Zambia and carries severe penalties upon conviction.

Under Article 103 of the Zambian Constitution, an election petition must be filed within seven days of the winner being declared.

Filing the challenge automatically pauses the presidential swearing-in under Article 104.

Legal and rights groups have criticised the timing of the abrupt court closure.

Hichilema had steered Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, through a major economic turnaround and debt restructuring.

Every change of president since Zambia returned to multiparty politics in 1991 has been through elections.

Opinion

Opposition parties and civil society organisations have raised concerns over increasing repression by Hichilema’s government.

Rights groups and election observer missions have said the post-election dispute has tarnished Zambia’s democratic reputation.

Al Jazeera said Hichilema entered the race as the clear favourite.

Channels Television

Zambia’s Opposition Leader Charged With Treason

Nosakhale Akhimien

Published 30 Aug 2026 accessed 30 Aug 2026

Facts

Zulu is a former lawmaker and a spokesman for the family of late former president Edgar Lungu.

It was not immediately clear when Mundubile and Zulu would appear in court to take a plea.

The government has rejected allegations that it is curbing dissent.

Opinion

Channels Television said the charge deepens concerns over the government’s treatment of political dissent.

Rights groups have warned that recent opposition arrests risk further narrowing political space in Zambia.

Opposition parties and civil society groups accused Hichilema’s government of curbing dissent during his first term.

TheCable

Zambia opposition leader charged with treason after disputing presidential poll result

Deborah Bodunde

Published 30 Aug 2026 accessed 30 Aug 2026

Facts

Mundubile’s party said he had moved to a secure location due to threats against him.

Opinion

No opinion marked.

Africanews

Zambian opposition leader Mundubile taken into custody on treason charges

Rédaction Africanews

Published 28 Aug 2026 accessed 30 Aug 2026

Facts

The surrender followed a summons over an alleged national security threat.

Mundubile is a 55-year-old lawyer.

Human Rights Watch said the court closure was without credible explanation.

Opinion

No opinion marked.