A GARDENER testifying in the murder trial of former Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) boss Nguntila Muleya, sent the victim’s mother in tears after hearing the testimony.
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26 year old Frank Kampamba recalled how he heard Muleya shout for help while handcuffed in the presence of three men, one of whom was armed.
This made Muleya’s mother almost disrupt the hearing before Lusaka High Court judge Vincent Siloka as she could not hold her emotions, breaking down and crying that her son was killed like an animal.
Kampamba of Chainda compound, told the court that on July 23, 2024, around 18:00 hours, he was watering plants at Mika Convention Center when he heard a loud voice crying for help.
“I heard a person calling for help, the person was screaming ‘help me’,” Kampamba testified, adding he was near Mpezeni Hall, close to the gate.
Upon rushing to the scene, Kampamba stated he found a man in a suit, later identified as Nguntila Muleya, in handcuffs, arguing with three other men.
He described one man wearing a black Arsenal jersey, another in camouflage bottom and carrying a gun, and the third in a head sock.
As he approached, Kampamba distinctly heard Muleya plead, “Help me, I don’t know these people.”
Kampamba narrated how he initially met a food and beverage manager who advised him to call security.
After alerting the security personnel, they returned to the scene together.
“When we reached that spot, we found four people, one wearing a suit in handcuffs, one in a camouflage carrying a gun, one in an Arsenal jersey and another in headsock,” he reiterated.
The witness detailed how the men were forcefully pushing Muleya towards a vehicle.
Despite Muleya’s insistence that he did not know them, one of the men retorted, “You know us, we are police officers.”
Kampamba further testified that his supervisor arrived and intervened, informing the group they were on private property and causing a disturbance.
One of the men then displayed an identification card, claiming to be a police officer.
“The guy in Arsenal jersey said Mr Muleya you know us, we are police officers from Anti-fraud commission,” Kampamba recounted.
He added that Muleya remained silent as he was forcibly pushed into the vehicle, where he sat between two men in the back seat.
The man in the Arsenal jersey then drove the vehicle away, reportedly stating that Muleya’s car would be “picked by government officials.”
The emotional weight of the testimony was evident when a loud cry was heard in the courtroom, identified as Muleya’s mother, who was heard saying “my son was killed like an animal” as she was helped outside.
Meanwhile, in another testimony, detective inspector Edwin Chitatula, a former officer in charge at the Anti-Break-In department (Scorpion), told the court he was unaware of any fraud case his officer, Caleb Zulu, was pursuing involving Muleya.
Chitatula also stated he had no knowledge of Muleya’s apprehension and confirmed that Zulu did not report for duty on July 23, 2024, the day Muleya was allegedly murdered.
The four accused in this case are Mithusani Dokowe, 29, a police officer; Caleb Zulu, 30, a police officer of Libala South; Samuel Dokowe, 37, an assistant engineer; and Francis Chipyoka, 42, an accountant of Foxdale.
They are jointly charged with the murder of Nguntila Muleya in the Njolwe area of Lusaka.
The trial continues today.
By Lucy Phiri
Kalemba June 17, 2025
