Police have charged four inmates with the murder of ZAF Flight Sergeant Mark Choongwa.
The four are Joseph Phiri, 32, Andrew Konga, 31, a police sergeant of Kamfisa who was facing charges of criminal trespass, Felix Kalumba, 40 and Martin Chanda aged 24.
The police say the four have been arrested after it concluded its own investigations into the murder of Sergeant Choongwa.
Police Assistant Spokesperson Chifuta Nephas revealed that the quartet will appear in court on Monday.
Mr Chifuta has also warned the media against issuing what he said unverified and alarming statements on the matter to stop forthwith.
It is not clear why the police has issued a statement alone when the investigations where jointly conducted with ZAF under the Ministry of Defence.
Too sad! God be with the family of the deceased
He was Tonga, not Bemba.
Let the four accused apologise and we move on.
Thanks
BB2014,16
mushota you really are desperate for attention. Anyway i understand that life as an economic refugee is boring and lonely. From cleaning people’s backsides from 8 till 8 and then home to a cold lonely setting can be depressing. SOme people cope with this by becoming internet nuisances. Please seek help. ****** wa wiso
Aweee… this a lie iwe Leona’s or whatever your name is. You should have waited for the result of the Ministry of Defence investigations Alis. You are a liar. Mushota has nailed it. It’s because the deceased was a Tonga, that’s why even the investigation was shoddy!
Mushota
You definitely deserve your titles.You made me chock on my dinner.OK ulichipuba.ALL HAIL QUEEN MUSHOTA
If a person dies while in police custody, the lies squarely on police for failure to protect a person under their custody. It is the duty of police to ensure the safety of citizens. Why put a person in custody and leave them to be murdered.The law shud change. MPs this is your job not wasting resources on debating terms office, icc and walkouts.
Really laughable..asking the PF police to investigate themselves..only in Zambia!!
Mushota you are cursed
Zambia police desperately trying to cover their own incompetence by blaming the poor convicts.
And that Ka spokesman telling us to shut up should be told we have freedom of expression, we have a right to make our own judgement and conclusions.
Someone tell that Ka spokesman we are not North Korea, “Let the people talk”
This is about time Zambian police incompetence and abusiveness comes to an end.
The Man was assaulted and died under their roof, they have to do the right thing and take responsibility.
How did the soldier get into civilian cells?
Did the police do the right thing to put a soldier in civilian cells?
Who was on duty?
What offense did the zaf officer commit?
Someone must answer these questions.
The police should not think this is a sole trump-on cases as usual.
The police command have to answer and do so convincingly.
You DO NOT JOKE with human life.
What crime(s) has the Tonga tribe committed against other Zambian tribes? Please leave these good, hard working people alone. Enough is enough. They didn’t choose to be born Tongas. They are in fact Zambians.
They have accused the Inmates, The Police should be held accountable on this matter. The Investigate seems suspicious.
Why has he been in prison???
I find lack of accountability by PFolice the same as the Kangaroo Court. The PFolice does not accept responsibility for the safety of inmates and detainees just as the Kangaroo Court judges are not responsible for the conduct of trials in their court. These people are mere spectators who get surprised by the outcones of their institutions.
It does not make sense. Surely there were police officers on duty, surely the man most likely screamed for help and most likely the police officers heard the screams and did nothing!! Are they not supposed to be charged as well? If this was done by the police officers and they are trying to frame the inmates, it is a terrible precedent and no one will be safe from the police, not even the politicians – both PF and UPND or any other party.
How can the same police who are implicated in this case, be the ones to solve it? There was need to institute an independent force to look into this case. If anything we should have even scotland yard or other independent foreign police forces or international police force looking into this case. The PF police are putting the blame on innocent inmates when they have clearly murdered an innocent man in cold blood. The pf police thugs are used to taking the law in their own hands with the blessings of lungu. Zambia is indeed now a failed state. Every sector of the country is not functioning. Lungu and PF must go
God is on the throne.
Nobody should be spared.
If we real that the deceased was a hard core Pf supporter all these retards from upnd will start celebrating.
@OVAL HEAD, Grow up asswhole. Get some compassion.
@HH Oval Head
A Retard is a person who regards himself/ herself as being FIRST a PF or UPND, Tonga or Bemba or Lozi or any other tribe before regarding himself/ herself as a Zambian. The case above concerns all of us because we are Zambians, and the Police in this particular case are getting paid for doing wrong stuff. They should be taken to task.
Spot on.
We have unevolved amoebas like ka Mushota whose suffers from a serious Personality disorder, & stone throwing Panga waving Mposa mabwe’a like Oval head making jokes about a human being being murdered in police custody, which should be a protective environment.
To them because the Murdered citizen is not their brother, its time to celebrate & laugh.
Any wonder Zambia has deteriorated to a toilet with animals like this??
Spot on! Why has this murder be related to tribal wars? This is about a Zambian dying in police custody. The main question is what was the reason for being in police custody & the motive for murder should be established by competent authorities.
The postmortem revealed he died from excessive bleeding due to damaged spine occasioned by a metal object and shambok, how did the inmates have access to metal objects and shamboks. Some thing is not tallying here. Well let’s wait for court process to hear the truth.
how unfortunate that it is only the prisoners who are being charged. All the police officers who were on duty that day MUST be held accountable. There is absolutely no way that this poor man was being beaten and the police were not aware. This is the type of stupidity that needs to come to an end. If I were a member of the deceased, I would be at Lungu’s house because the buck stops with him. and for too long he has allowed this type of hooliganism to go on unchecked. My heart bleeds for the deceased and family. Needlessly murdered not that there is ever a need to murder anyone. I am mad, mad mad as hell. what a country.
@My point you don’t need to be a member of the family of the deceased to do something about this. We should all take it upon ourselves to end the rot.PF militia has gone too far. We are back in the days of Unip vigilantes, bloody killers.
one question how did he found himself in police custody for a trafic offence that was not even fatal? Is it an offence to comment on an issue that is not yet in court? if one comments, is it a civil or criminal offence? help me.
investing a murder within 7 days? not even scotland yard can manage.
This is a PF Cover up of a PF murder once more….
investing a murder within 7 days? not even scotland yard can manage.
They must also arrest all officers that were on duty for criminal negligence. Simple and straight forward! I personally will not accept anything less than seeing that the arresting officers and officers on duty that night should be detained as suspects responsible for the death of Sgt Choongwa MHRIEPm
Those trying to politicise this stop it! No sacred cows!
We wait for ZAF’s findings.
its the police that killed him, not inmates. Until they charge police officers, this is still open case.
The bottom line is that he died in Police custody. Charging the four inmates is easy, how about the negligence from Police that a person died in their custody.
Mushota is a very educated fool whose education can lead him to say such things about the departed.
You are luck you can do cleaning in London hence looking at other people as stupid.
@steve, matter is still not in court so you are free to comment on this heinous crime clearly perpetrated by the police force. I can’t agree more with Steve, since when did commiting a minor traffic accident lead one to police custody?I pray that the ZAF and family should not relax over this case, other wise the cops will continue to engage in extra judicial killings and will continue to be defended by their overzealous minister of home affairs!!
The media being talked about includes LT. How informed is your concluding statement?
It is not clear why the police has issued a statement alone when the investigations where jointly conducted with ZAF under the Ministry of Defence.
In any country police are the investigators not the air force. Why should we expect the airforce to be part of pol communication?
That said police seem to be ignoring details. We were made to un derstand station police officers began beating up the man. Why are they not charged?
I am not a lawyer, but how did the police reach the conclusion that it is murder? Did the accused confess to killing the soldier? What was the motive? Did they intend to kill the soldier? Why was he locked up? Kaiser Zulu assaulted a police officer and was not locked up. The police are hiding the truth.
The police are not hiding the truth. Go to court and you will know all the answers! Please don’t come to a conclusion prematurely like Hazaluza Hagain!
@ sharon this is murder you must convince the court beyond reasonable doubt thats why the investigations must be water tight and thorouh .
@Steve:
Sharon is PF Lungu’s THICK piece of PF sh.it that cant go no matter how many times you flush! The Ar.sewhore is a mo.ron and NOT not capable of understanding straight forward issues like this one!!
ZPS is now trying to cover the culpable murder.We know ZPS has been infiltrated with poorly trained PF cadres. These are the Cadres who were in Police Uniform and beat Mark Choongwa. The Policeman who was driving other car which got involved in the car accident with Mark Choongwa should give a Statement. The passengers in Mr Choongwa’s Car should also give written Statements of what happened since they were beaten as well. Until PF militias aree flushed out of ZPS and other govt Institutions these murders and beatings will continue no doubt.
Cover up!
From the beginning,this case was seen from the way it was handled, that it will be diluted.The more the authorities issue statements,the more they are exposing their tracks.One can ask a thousand questions for sure,and you can tell that there are desperate measures to try and cover-up and quickly close the case.
Zambia is really becoming a failed state. If it is true that the inmates took the life of this hounarable officer, the police officer in charge of Woodlands police station should be charged for murder. Inmates are under the control and jurisdiction of the officer in charge and he is answerable for their conduct and actions. And so if the inmates killed the officer the officer in charge of the police station should be arrested and charged for murder. But we all know that the person was killed by the police and the perpetrators should be brought to book.
Zambians, let us wake up and not allow this to happen to us. Today it is Choongwa, and tomorrow it could be you or your beloved one. Let us bring back rule of law to mother Zambia. Lets us hold those in power accountable for the Heneous…
Attention seeker MUSHOTA. MACHENDE AKO! You will never win any title again you satanist. May the shadow of satan follow you always.
she has never won a title. By lusaka times fixing results they always ensure that their own contributor mushota who works for lusaka times wins. It is an account set up to increase traffic to this website by commenting ridiculous things. Lusaka times makes more money the more traffic they get here.
There’s something SERIOUSLY WRONG with Zambia, for a Green Fly like Mushota who only spews incoherent tripe from her An@l Sphinct3r to be even nominated for best blogger.
You then wonder why Zambia has the currently useless inept leadership in place.
WE ARE WELL & TRULY IN TROUBLE, & REVERSE GEAR IN ZAMBIA!!
i think you are just a stu,pid tonga like HH with id,iotic brains like HH ko,swe iwe go leave else were if you dont acknowledge lungu as your president you mada fu,kers
This case even a grade nine is able to see who was wrong.
Is it true that with Hon Dora Siliya if we are to count the number of beds she has been nailed in…..they are enough to open a UTH sized general hospital
?????????
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The police are just *****s they think we are dull atase!!! They can’t cheat us with that stupid statement ba swine!!!
It’s the police who murdered him let them not implicate those inmates..the postmortem tells us he was hit with stuff and whatever and in cells you can’t enter with sharp objects or sjambocks
Agony is that even if they are found wanting and sentenced, someone will pardon them
Its so shocking that the police are too quick in releasing a report, meaning they are guilt and just trying to defend themselves. Its not normal to hear that inmates have been charged without charging police officers on duty. Why are police officers excluding themselves from this case? Mwe Jehovah Lesa mwitulekelesha muminwe lyabakaapa mumbwe nkusa.
Mushota you are nauseating. You are too ‘tribalistic’. Soon we shall know exactly who you are. Your comments are not constructive but irritating. Tone down Zambia is small village tho getting advanced in IT…easy!
MUSHOTA IS BATER TTHAN YOU BL,ATS
i think you are just a stu,pid tonga HH brains ko,swe iwe go leave else were if you dont acknowledge lungu as your president
Reading between the line’s of that statement,going before court this case will not go anywere.
Rest my case
One or two questions;
1. Why were all the inmates spread across Lusaka soon after it was discovered the poor fellow was not breathing?
2. What does the Occurrence book say concerning the late W/O’s arrest? What was his case?
3. Police attempted to snatch the body from Maina soko several times following the incident, why the panic? People saw everything and Police are trying to make a mockery of the whole thing when the young Officer has left a young wife with a very small baby?!
4. Where is the Officer whose Motor vehicle was bashed in and who actually called in a reinforcement of cops to batter the late? Why did the lady cop at reception tell the inmates to Beat the W/O when they dragged him into the cell when in actually sense he was already dead?
5. Why did Kampyono rush to…
Meant ‘Actual sense’
The major problem lies in leadership. Lungu as our commander in chief has failed us . The contribution is coming from his failing ,incompetent and corrupt ministers. The president must not wait for investigations for a matter like this one. Being the eye of the nation with full time intelligence, he was supposed to fire and jail the police officers for negligence.This will bring tension in the country because of lack of security and leadership .Please wake up mr president and act quickly to important issues before it’s too late,2021 is not far off and we zambian can easily lose confidence.
Concerned,disappointed and frustrated PF supporter
You are very dull ! How do you charge someone with negligence when the actual offence is murder. thats the problem with you UPND fellas, anything that has got to do with Govt you have to attack blindly like that Hungry Hyena does
Its a government of thugs by thugs for the master thug RB
The minute the asst commisioner Mr phiri made a statement before an enquiry was instituted put the govt in a difficult position to dispel his assertion that inmates killed the Zaf officer when the reality is the Pf cadres/ crimininals planted in the police force were responsible.
The easiest thing for justice to be obtained to get the Pf cadre police man whose car was bashed and he will spill the beans Zambian eagle has unearthed one of the protagonists in the murder who is a known pf thug security commander. Let all the others be unmasked and justice will prevail somoone somewhere knows all these people who are involved in the murder by tge pf cadres in police uniform.
This culprits are Pf cadres planted in the police this is why theyhave made the inmates as scape goats.Everything undet the Pf govt is perverted Judiciary,Ecz and now the police.The country is being ran by thugs with Rb as mastet puppeteer.Let the petition rule that HH won the election to seeve country from being a failed state.
fake news!!!
wheres is the zambia police logo and seal
Marks soul still lingers. We shall continue to fast and pray,the uniformed murder’s must brace themselves. We wait for Holy Monday
Mugshots is cursed like the PF police who murederd the ZAF officer. And when you have Kamba threatening bloodshed and the police allow him to walk freely, one wonders where Zambia is heading under Changwa who has taken us back to KK days.
Arrest the officers also, they are all suspects. He could have bitten way back before reaching the police. Please show some justice on this one. Remember everyone is watching. Belonging to ZP does not guarantee some one to commit crime and get away with it. Lest everyone will start taking the law into their own hands because of lack of confidence in the police.
The issuance of this report makes as sad as when the news of Mark’s demise was announced. Simple investigation procedures required to start the investigation from the scene of the accident. The people who witnessed the accident of the two vehicles and then witnesses who drove with Mark and the other person to the police and what happened at the police and further on. The police report to me is one to cover up their accomplice in this murder. Why issue a report before the Joint Investigating Committee set up between MOHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) and MOD (Ministry of Defence) have even commenced theirs. Going forward as there is a possibility of collusion between the Police Command and The MOHA, either ZAF or MOD can institute there own investigation. The Human Rights Commission…
correction… The issuance of this report makes the day as sad as…
To Mark’s family, while in my opinion the criminal investigation may not yield the desired results as there is apparent collusion between the actual killers of your son and the MOHA, you can also commence a civil litigation for damages for wrongly causing, being an accomplice and negligent in the death of Mark. Sue the four Accused – 1st Defendants, the Attorney General – 2nd Defendant, 3rd Defendant – the owner of the car that was involved in the accident with Mark and the Receptionist – 4th Defendant. This will achieve to things; if the reports from all agencies do not satisfy you, evidence will be adduced from all the defendants as to what role they played and/or did not play in the death of Mark. The evidence can be used in the criminal matter. Secondly; while we say money does not…
@ Avolatro I agree with you but post the remaining part …
@steve I actually did but LT seems to always favour politically inclined posts than those that go towards giving solutions (just joking LT). The second purpose of the civil matter is for Mark’s family to be compensated for the lose of his life. The damages will come from the four accused, the state, the owner of the car & receptionist, individual & jointly. While money cannot bring back life, whatever the courts will award the family will go a long way in ensuring that his wife & daughter have something to help them in their changed course of life. This is very sad!
@ thanks Avolatro I hope Mark family will get justice.
Despicable. In other countries an Independent body would investigate the police. Didn’t the account of the initial accident state that the police officer whose car was ‘scratched’, called reinforcements from woodlands police station even after the deceased apologised and offered to have the matter resolved amicably? What happened from the time the extra officers arrived and eventually took him to the cell? This is a clear cover up! Even assuming the police did not ‘touch’ the deceased, officers who were on duty are culpable.
@yes herold muna all the accused need to do is to creat doubt in the mind of the court then they will walk to freedom while the real killers will not even set foot in the doc then Mark’s death will join the many straight foward cases that remain mysteries, unfortunately.
Mushota you are such an a$$h0le. Are you seriously going to reduced Choongwa life to tribalism? I am disgusted. One day something so unfortunately will happen to your family. You will find out that a simple “my condolences” or “may God help you find comfort” will do. I am disappointed. As rhetoric as you are I never thought you would make such a statement when a family just lost a loved one.
THEY ARE WOOD WINKING US CITIZENS. THIS IS A COVER UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I PREDICTED THIS ONE AS THE EASY OUT COME. CHARGING THE IN MATES IS THE EASIEST SOLUTION FOR BOTH GOVERNMENT AND FOR THE POLICE TO HIDE THEIR BRUTALITY AND INCOMPETENCE.
THIS IS NOT WHAT WE CALL A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION. THIS IS MASHED UP OUTCOME AND TRAMPED UP CHARGES AGAINST THE IN MATES.
THIS GUY WAS BEATEN EVEN BEFORE BEING THROUGH IN THE CELLS AND THE DAMAGE MIGHT HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE BY THE POLICEMEN. THE POLICE CANNOT INVESTIGATE ITSELF PERIOD! POOR INMATES WILL NOW BE CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR SOMETHING THEY ARE NOT ENTIRELY TO BLAME BUT THE BRUTAL POLICE AND THE INCOMPETENT SYSTEM.
THESE INMATES NEED A GOOD FEARLESS LAWYER WHO WILL EXPOSE THE SYSTEM.
No matter how much cover up the Police make. God will judge you harshly as the blood of the deceased Man will ? cry out. May God bring to book the real murderers and mete out justice. It’s really saddening to see even the top Police officers rushing to cover up the erring and overzealous Traffic Police Officers. They rob innocent motorists of their hard earned money daily and now they have resorted to murder. May God deal with you CRIMINALS IN UNIFORM!
IMAGINE ALL THE BLOOD OF INNOCENT SOULS ON YOU! LEARN from Super Ken and MUGABE. As it s they will live longer to experience the the pain of their sins haunting them. Am sure all the blood they spilled speaks to them now and it is not easy to sleep.
More are applying to join the band wagon!
@ Rupa Monday- spot on.
I meant Rupa Monga
@Ruma Monga – (computer spell check misbehaving)
WHY A TONGA SOLDIER WAS BEATEN JUST LIKE HIS MASTER HH BEATEN 5 TIMES WITHOUT REVENGE? The chaps that beat him are infact his tribesmen with forged names. Going by the facts , its bad we lost life but i urge these Tonga aliens to keep away from zambian politics. It is politics that makes u get beaten if the boy never talked politics in cells he could be alive now enjoying his mabisi
I have never seen a President like Lungu who can’t condemn bad behaviour that put citizens in danger. He only talks when a political party insults him, what kind of a human being is he? what’s the point of having a president like him? He only does petty things meant for him small boys. Lungu! do not take Zambians for granted. even your wife cant advise you if your ka Cheela is failing? Days are numbered Lungu.
chagwa you are just a stupid bl,at that has no brains at all. how do you talk about your president like that. grow for up,
i think you are just a stu,pid tonga HH brains ko,swe iwe go leave else were if you dont acknowledge lungu as your president
Mmm??????????