Zambian Police Investigate Murder of Seven

On the 13th September a woman reported that she had discovered an unknown body decomposing in the bush whilst on her way to collect firewood. The crime is suspected to have occurred between Saturday 10th and Tuesday 13th.

Further bodies were discovered as neighbouring people came out to assist the police. A total of seven dead bodies have now been found in the northern district of Nakonde, with four being found in Mung’ongo and three more in Kanyimbo Village.

All the victims are male and believed to be between the ages of 28 and 45. The Zambia Police Service Spokesperson Rae Hamoonga stated that an initial investigation discovered “deep cuts and bruises on various parts of the body, as sharp instruments are believed to have been used in the act.”

The victims are believed to have been murdered elsewhere and dumped near the villages. The nationality of the victims is yet to be established, there is suspicion that the victims are not Zambian but rather Somali nationals.

Owing to Nakonde’s proximity to the border, the Tanzanian police have also launched an investigation in cooperation with Zambian officials.

Locals appeared shocked, with one man commenting that nothing like this had occurred in his forty years of living in the area.

Zambia has a low homicide rate of just below 5.5 homicides per 100,000 people. This compared very favourably with other African nations such as Zimbabwe (7.48), Namibia (17.8), or South Africa (35.9).