According to an article published in the Zambia Daily Mail, one of the victims of the fatal shooting of protesters in Kampasa by the Zambia National Service had begged for his life before being shot in the head at close range.
The incident happened when officers carried out an order to demolish houses built on land belonging to the defence wing without permission.
The wounded man is admitted to Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital while the incident occurred in Kampasa near Meanwood Ndeke Housing Development project near the Kenneth Kaunda International airport in Lusaka.
ZNS public relations officer Marble Mulenga-Nyone and Lusaka Province police commissioner Joyce Kasosa confirmed the shooting but could not give further details.
ZNS officers stormed the settlement on a 50-acre piece of land at the crack of dawn around 05:00 hours yesterday and ordered the settlers to vacate the houses built on ZNS land.
The settlers have been insisting that the land belongs to them and not ZNS. Some say they have lived there for more than 25 years.
The victims, who have been identified as Clement Muloongo and Pumulo Lungwangwa, were hit with short batons before they were shot at close range, according to reports.
According to eyewitnesses, one of the men raised his hands and begged the officers armed with AK 47 rifles to spare his life but they ignored him and opened fire on him.
The second victim was shot when he tried to rescue his father, who was in the house which was being demolished, while the survivor was shot in the buttocks as he hung around after being evicted from his house.
Lungwangwa’s wife, Harriet Shabantu, said her husband was not confrontational when the officers ordered them to vacate the house.
“I just told my husband that we should secure our documents and National Registration Cards and leave the house to be demolished.
We went to the roadside but they followed us….we moved somewhere else and they still followed us and started beating us up. They started shooting and that is how my husband was shot,” she said.
A ZNS officer only identified as P M Solochi, who was sent to gather facts about the incident in Kampasa, defended the officers saying they shot at the people in self-defence.
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