IN an emotional testimony, a State witness yesterday recounted how he was called to identify his brother, former IBA director general Nguntila Muleya in a mortuary, whose body was found with a wound on the face while handcuffed, lying face up.
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Muleya’s brother Muntanga, a banker at Access bank testified that he identified the body after the police removed a towel which was covered on his face.
Muntanga further narrated that his late brother’s last words were that he wanted to be remembered for doing the right thing.
He told Judge Vincent Siloka that on July 23, 2024 he had lunch with the deceased, who complained to him how an accountant at his work place was stressing him and wished he had protection.
Muntanga said his brother mentioned to him that the same accountant was pushing him to approve the purchase of vehicles which were very expensive, of which he later discovered that suppliers for the same vehicles were linked to the person who was pushing him for approvals.
He further testified that the accountant had also applied for a leave of two years, that he wanted to go to Australia but Guntila rejected it.
“I had lunch with my brother Guntila in Longacres at a certain restaurant around 13:00 hours, we initially were supposed to meet at 12:30 hours but he came a bit late and the first thing he said was an apology that he was late because he needed to sort a few issues at the office.”
“We sat together with my brother for about an hour and during the conversations, he mentioned that the reason why he had come late was because he needed to manage one item of an individual, an accountant at IBA,” he said.
Muntanga said his brother also talked about the issue that had been bothering him for a long time in the office, of a person who was pushing him to buy expensive vehicles and wanted to get a leave.
He shared that his brother was also stressed about an issue of a certain media house, that they had a heated conversation with the owner over media ethics.
“And we concluded our conversation, the last thing he said was that he wanted to be remembered for doing the right thing. Just before we left, I paid the bill and he told me that he was going to pay the next bill when we were parting. After that we went on separate ways, that was the last time I spoke to him,” he said.
Muntanga narrated that around 02:00 hours on Wednesday morning, Guntila’s wife called him to inform him that her husband had not gone home.
The wife told Muntanga that she has been trying his phones but they were just ringing and went unanswered.
“So I decided to call his friends to check whether they were with him around that period, I first called his friend Elastone, he said they were not together the previous night, I then called the other friend, Songani Phiri who also confirmed that they were not together.”
“At this stage I kept calling his phone and it went unanswered,” he said.
He said after 10:00 hours on Wednesday, he discovered that his phone had gone off completely.
“I went to police headquarters to report a missing person, after around 15:00 hours, I received a call from the Minister of Information to tell me that my brother was murdered in Njolwe area and I needed to go to Maina Soko to identify his body,” he said .
Muntanga said it was the police officers who led him to identify the body at Maina Soko.
“When I was at the mortuary, they took me to where he was, his face was covered by a towel, he was handcuffed and lying down and his face was facing the ceiling, and hands where tied together.”
“The police asked if I was okay I wanted to see his face, I said I wanted to see him and they removed the towel that covered his face, he had wounds on the part of the face, and I was asked to go upstairs. We went upstairs to the press conference where they broke the news,” he said.
Muntanga said he was then taken to the crime scene where the incident happened.
In this matter, Mithusani Basa Dokowe, 29, a police officer, Caleb Zulu, 30, a police officer of Libala south, Samuel Basa Dokowe, 37, an assistant engineer and Francis Chipyoka, 42, an accountant of Foxdale are charged with murder.
It is alleged that Dokowe, Zulu, Samuel and Chipyoka in Lusaka jointly and whilst acting together with other persons unknown murdered Muleya.
Muleya’s body was found with Gun-shot wounds on the outskirts of Lusaka called Njolwe area.
By Lucy Phiri
CAPTION: Photo of the four accused persons leaving the Lusaka High Court yesterday after trial
Kalemba May 20, 2025
