Police summon Zambian opposition leader for questioning after disputed vote

Zambian police summoned opposition leader Brian Mundubile late Thursday for questioning over an alleged national security threat, days after an election marked by a crackdown on dissent.

Mundubile finished second in the August 13 vote that handed President Hakainde Hichilema a second term and has vowed to challenge the results in court.

A joint team has "been carrying out investigations for the past few years relating to serious national security threats" and wanted to question Mundubile and his running mate, Makebi Zulu, a police statement said.

It did not specify the nature of the threats but said "alarming activities" that had the potential to undermine national security had occurred at premises linked to the pair.

Mundubile and Zulu have rejected police suggestions that their alliance was involved in insurgency or militia activity.

Mundubile went into hiding last week with an international human rights organisation after police raided his home in the capital, Lusaka.

A former cabinet minister, Mutotwe Kafwaya, was shot and killed during the August 14 operation when 11 people, including key opposition figures, were arrested on allegations of offences related to treason.

On Thursday, immigration officials said they had arrested the secretary general of the opposition alliance.

The government has assured the organisation sheltering the two leaders that "there is no harm intended to be done on them in any way", the police statement said.

While last week's vote was largely peaceful, international observers said the poll was marred by opposition claims of intimidation, arrests, abductions and violence.

Amnesty International on Thursday warned of a growing crackdown on peaceful dissent and called on authorities to immediately end the arbitrary arrest and detention of opposition members.

"The reported killing of Mutotwe Kafwaya is deeply alarming," regional director for east and southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, said.

"Amnesty International calls on the authorities to ensure that all detainees have immediate access to lawyers and their families and any necessary medical care."

Once hailed as one of Africa's most stable democracies, copper-producing Zambia has a long tradition of peaceful transfers of power, with every change of president since the return to multiparty politics in 1991 coming through the ballot box.

But that reputation has come under strain under Hichilema, who took office in 2021, as space for dissent has narrowed and pressure on the opposition has intensified.