A Zambia Police Service paramilitary officer has allegedly committed suicide using a firearm in Sibanyati area of Choma district.
Constable Peter Kapenda of platoon number 8 Paramilitary Lilayi Battalion in Lusaka, currently based at Sibanyati Basic School in Choma on operations, was found dead at a bush near Muchena Moyo Farm in Sibanyati area which is about 1km away from the named school.
Southern Province Deputy Commissioner of Police Moono Namalongo confirmed this in a statement obtained by ZANIS in Choma.
“After receiving the information concerning his colleague, Constable Chisi Mwanje, who is also currently based at Sibanyati Basic School in Choma on operations, in the company of a Community Crime Prevention Unit (CCPU) member rushed to the area and confirmed the incident of suspected suicide using a firearm. An AK-47 rifle bearing serial number 1971DV4190 with 26 rounds of ammunition was retrieved from the scene,” he explained.
Mr Namalongo stated that Constable Mwanje reported the matter to Choma Central Police Station on January 10, 2025, at around 15:00 hours, and police officers rushed to the scene and confirmed the report.
“The deceased body was found lying in a pool of blood facing upwards. The bullets were observed to have entered through the mouth and exited through the back of the head. Three empty cartridges were found at the scene but four rounds are suspected to have been fired rapidly,” he added.
Mr Namalongo highlighted that brief facts of the matter are that Constable Mwanje had left the now deceased at their house on January 9, 2025, at 19:00 hours as he went to attend a funeral within the nearby area and went back home at 02:00 hours in the early hours of January 10, 2025, and did not find his colleague at home.
He said he also noticed that the AK-47 rifle with 30 rounds of ammunition was not there.
The victim’s colleague said he later received information from Collen Chijata, 47, of Sibanyati village, who is also a member of the CCPU, that there was someone found lying dead in the bush.
Upon reaching the scene and discovered that it was his colleague Constable Kapenda Peter.
The southern province deputy commissioner of police the body of the deceased has since been taken to Choma General Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem, adding that investigations are ongoing to establish the circumstances that led to the death of the paramilitary police officer.
