AN employee at the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), Chabwela Zulu, has been discovered dead and in a state of decomposition in a lodge room in Lusaka’s Garden Compound four days after Checking in.
Police are investigating the sudden and unnatural death.
Zulu, believed to be between 25 and 30 years old by police, was found deceased in Room 119 of Garden Lodge.
The discovery was made after lodge management reported an intensifying foul smell and the presence of flies around the room to the Garden Police Post.
According to Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga, Emmasdale Police Station, through the Garden Police Post, received the report at 16:00 hours today.
The report was filed by 40 year old manager of the lodge, Jonathan Njunga Iwake.
Preliminary investigations indicate that Zulu booked the room for a single day last Thursday in the afternoon.
Lodge management initially assumed he had left with the keys when the room remained locked the following day, as he was a known regular client.
“However, on Monday, June 09, 2025, a foul smell was smelt within the lodge premises. Management initially suspected a fault in the sewer system and commenced work to address it.”
“The situation escalated today, June 10, 2025, when the smell intensified and flies were seen hovering around Room 119, prompting management to report the matter to Garden Police Post,” stated Hamoonga.
Upon entering Room 119, officers found Zulu’s body lying face upwards on the bed in a decomposed state.
A ZNBC identity card recovered from the body confirmed his identity and designation as a Post Producer for the national broadcaster.
The deceased’s body was then transported to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) Mortuary, where a postmortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Picture credit: ZNBC
Kalemba June 10, 2025
