Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Save Africans-Ukraine calls for independent UN investigation in the death of Zambian in the Russia Ukraine war

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The Save Africans-Ukraine has called for an independent United Nations – UN investigation into the death of a 23 years old Zambian student on the battlefield in the Russia Ukraine war.

The Save Africans-Ukraine has learned with great dismay of the death of an African student from Zambia in combat in Ukraine, Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda, who was serving a prison sentence on the outskirts of Moscow in Russia, and died on September 22, 2022 in Ukraine, according to a Zambian government statement, and the authorities in that country say they have asked Moscow for an explanation of the circumstances of his death.

In a statement issued on behalf of the Save Africans-Ukraine, Coordinator Etonam Ahianyo strongly condemning the death of Lemekhani Nyirenda, a nuclear engineering student on a battlefield in Ukraine, the organisation has urged the UN to launch an independent investigation to get to the bottom of this tragedy.

“Among the many issues we are concerned about, we are particularly interested in knowing how the student who was supposed to be in custody in Russia ended up in Ukraine and how he died there,” Etonam Ahianyo said

The Coordinator disclosed that the Save Africans-Ukraine has also asked the UN to commission a report that will take stock of the situation of African and third country nationals in Ukraine and Russia, as they would like to know whether Africans are being forcibly recruited to fight, or whether any are trapped in war zones or detained in prisons in both countries during the conflict.

Etonam Ahianyo added that the UN organisation confirmed on November 17, 2022 that it had received the request for an investigation from Save Africans-Ukraine, and it is therefore important for them that the UN expedites its investigations with the Russian and Ukrainian parties in order to establish responsibility so that this death does not go unpunished.

Additionally, in a separate letter, the Save Africans-Ukraine called on the Russian and Ukrainian Presidents to cooperate fully with the investigations to establish the truth.

“We have also called on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to use their power to ensure the safety and integrity of all African and third country nationals on their respective soil and in areas under the control of their forces,” Etonam Ahianyo stated

The Save Africans-Ukraine is an initiative of the Swiss-based association “Causes Oubliées/Forgotten Causes”, which assists Africans and other non-Ukrainian nationals fleeing war and defends their interests throughout Europe.

On 22nd September, 2022, A 23-year-old Zambian student in Russia died in Ukraine at the battle front of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda, a government sponsored nuclear engineering student was in 2020 arrested and convicted to nine years by the Russian court after he was found guilty of trafficking in narcotics substances.

Lemekhani Nyirenda worked for a courier company on part-time basis in Russia and whilst ferrying some parcels, he was searched by the law enforcement officers who found narcotics in his custody and was consequently slapped with a prison sentence out of which he served 2years six months as at the time of his death.

Lemekhani Nyirenda who died on 2nd September, 2022 while the Zambian government in Moscow was only notified about his death on 9th November, 2022 and his family has since been informed while his remains have been repatriated to Russia in readiness for further repatriation to Zambia.

Foreign Affairs and International cooperation Minister Stanley Kakubo told Journalists at a media briefing that the government has since written to the Russian government demanding explanation on how a Zambian serving a jail sentence in that country found himself at the battlefront in the Russia Ukraine war.

16 COMMENTS

  1. This must not enter the realms of one side versus the other. First. Get the victim’s family compensated for this violation. Second. Let all non-nationals of either country be kept in safe havens or be allowed to leave the battle zones if they do not wish to be a part of it even by settlement. Third. Leave any non-actors in this whole mess be left out of this. There are enough sponsors that leaves too much to be desired as it were.

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    • Makes sense for Zambians to fight on Russian side.
      And that boy looks a thug, I am sure he was imprisoned for marijuna.

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    • You would just want this to “pass” if this was your young brother? Hello? There should be some type of compensation to the relatives of the deceased young man. Of course Putin is a reasonable man and he understands that.

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  2. But why is the Zambian government so insipid about this tragedy? It’s almost as if they think this is just about a normal incident. They were silent until South Africa issued a statement. What kind of sleepiness is this? Are our governments too corrupt to pay attention to their citizens?

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  3. My condolences to Lemekhani Nyirenda family, I am sorry we lost a valuable ZAMBIAN human life, because of PUTIN`s hunger for power that has brought uncalled-for suffering to ordinary Ukrainian people. When ZAMBIA supported the resolution condemning Russia`s aggression against Ukraine, you had many people here condemning the government. In fact, many went to an extent of saying Russia was Zambian`s long-term friend.
    SUDDENLY, you are all quiet……and the same id.io.ts are NOW blaming the government, ati it was slow to react and did so after Ramaphosa….come on guys….How do you KNOW GRZ has NOT done anything? BTW, that is not the point, the point is you supported PUTIN with this war, and the world is paying for it. MNEMBE is not talking about it…….as usual…HYPOCRITES !!!

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    • Get lost you pumbafu without a brain You cant see how neglected Zambians have become at the expense of this corrupt government that only bothers about Grant Thronton but never its citizens

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    • @Blowing farts in the wind.
      As usual. you cant raise your arguments without degrading or insulting others…..what type of a human being are you, if at all you are?
      Wee chinangwa wee…..there are 5 other consultant firms that have been engaged, why are you not talking about them, but YOU just focussed on Grant Thornton (BTW, not “Thronton”)….that tells alot about the state of your mind and the amount of grey matter you have in that skull, which is 3/4 filled up by other peoples farts.
      Which Zambian people are neglected? You damn Hypocrite.

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    • Gen kanene ati degrading and insulting others,? You’re trying to impose your special farting capacity on others? take your chicken brained tantrums to Koswe where you can waste time on bloggers’ typos.
      You do the very things you criticise, meaning your brain doesn’t function. Clearly you’re failing to reason cos you don’t have the capacity for logic. I seriously you passed Grade 2 tests. Stick to farting at kindergarten where you belong

    • What is a hypocrite? It looks like Zambians will hunt for any expletive when they lose their brains. Any stone to throw at your foe you pick. Be intelligent retaliate with the correct weapons

  4. Ukraine showed its most shameful racist side when all African students there were refused safe evacuation in preference of white citizens.Serious violations of UN human rights charter.

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  5. Socialist party leader Fred Mmembe is surprisingly silent.
    Putin is shamelessly using prisoners and foreign students to fight is personal war.

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  6. Working for a courier company, ferrying parcels that are not even personal and being slapped with a nine years jail sentence for most probably someone else’s crime, this really is a very sad situation . Lord have mercy

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