THE mystery surrounding the death of 51-year-old George Kalaba has deepened even further after a forensic pathologist told the Lusaka High Court that he could not determine how the Garden Luangwa resident died after his skeletal remains were discovered in his home.
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Testifying before Judge Anne Ononuju, Dr Victor Telendy, 48, working with the Zambia Police Service, said the advanced state of decomposition made it impossible to establish the cause of death.
“Unfortunately, I am not able to give a conclusion about the cause of death because the soft tissues and internal organs were no longer present,” Dr Telendy explained.
Kalaba’s remains were found on his bed in January 2025, close to two years after he was last seen alive in November 2023.
His wife, Sylvia Mutaba, has since been charged with manslaughter but has pleaded not guilty.
She was arrested together with her three daughters and neighbour who were jailed for five months for failure to give notice of death.
Dr Telendy told the court that in his 27 years of practice,13 in Ukraine and 14 in Zambia, he had never come across such a case.
He noted that while some cultures in Asia permit families to keep the bodies of their loved ones at home, he had never encountered a similar practice in Zambia.
The pathologist confirmed that the skeleton belonged to a male aged between 30 and 60 and that the bones were intact, showing no evidence of injuries.
He, however, could not rule out death by disease or homicide.
The case also drew testimony from Kalaba’s longtime friend, carpenter Elvis Nkonde, who narrated how he last saw the deceased in August 2023.
According to Nkonde, Kalaba had complained of feeling unwell but was still active enough to move around the neighborhood and even visit a barbershop for a haircut.
Nkonde recalled how, more than a year later, he began asking around with other friends about Kalaba’s whereabouts but their inquiries went blank like a GCE candidate who failed to answer questions despite several attempts.
“We saw officers arrive, and they carried Mrs. Kalaba and her daughters into a vehicle. Later, they came out with the skeletal body of Mr. Kalaba,” Nkonde testified.
The skeletal remains were later buried at Mutumbi Cemetery.
Cross-examined on whether Kalaba’s illness should have prompted a hospital visit, Nkonde admitted no one had stopped them from taking him for medical attention.
He also confirmed that he once posted photos with Kalaba on social media, though his daughter allegedly deleted some of them.
Meanwhile, Dr Telendy emphasised that his inconclusive postmortem left the cause of death open to further police investigation.
“I cannot exclude the possibility of disease or homicide. I simply do not know why this person died,” the witness told the court.
The trial continues .
Kalemba September 17, 2025
