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Zambia probes Chinese clothes factory murder
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Police in Zambia have arrested three people suspected of murdering three Chinese nationals, dragging the bodies into a factory and setting it alight.
Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo has promised a full investigation into Sunday’s “barbaric” crime.
It took place at the Chinese-owned Blue Star clothing factory.
The attack comes amid a controversial crackdown in the capital, Lusaka, on Chinese businesses accused of discriminating against Zambians.
There has also been tension over reports that Chinese factory managers have been forcing employees to sleep at work to stop the spread of coronavirus, the BBC’s Kennedy Gondwe reports from Lusaka.
The Chinese embassy in Zambia said the killings were “appalling and vicious acts of violence”.
Police say the motive for the attack, which took place in the Makeni suburb of the capital, is unclear.
One of those arrested had fled to the city of Ndola some 310km (192 miles) north of Lusaka, police spokesperson Esther Katongo told the state-run ZNBC broadcaster.
For the last few weeks, Lusaka Mayor Miles Sampa has been leading an operation to close Chinese-owned businesses, including barber shops and restaurants, after locals complained about discrimination.
He has also been sharing posts on Facebook, including videos, of his impromptu raids on Chinese-owned factories where workers are allegedly being mistreated.
In one video, he confronts Chinese managers at a truck assembly plant about their policy of detaining workers and orders them to allow the Zambian workers to go home.
Mr Sampa, who is a ruling party member, has not commented on the killings.
He has clashed with the government over his operation against Chinese firms.
However, the mayor has accused his colleagues of not taking seriously the reports of discrimination against Zambians, our reporter says.
According to China’s state-run Global Times news site, Sunday’s attack was likely to have been prompted by Zambians who misunderstood the good intentions of some Chinese firms that have recently been prohibiting employees from going home after their shifts in response to the coronavirus crisis.
“This is interpreted by locals as an invasion of freedom,” the Global Times quoted a Chinese person living in Zambia as saying.
Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Malanji has sought to reassure foreign investors that they are welcome in the southern African nation.
“This is something regrettable, this is anarchy and this government will not tolerate anarchy,” he said on Tuesday.
Former Awutu Senya East Member of Parliament, Mavis Hawa Koomson, has been elected the National Women’s Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
She secured 738 votes to defeat her main contender, Mohammed Safia, who polled 429 votes in the election held on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.
The election formed part of the NPP’s National Delegates Conference, which brought together delegates from across the country to elect new national executives for the party.
The conference was characterised by a colourful display of the NPP’s red, white and blue colours, with party supporters and delegates filling the stadium ahead of the various elections.
Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was among the prominent personalities who attended the delegates conference ahead of the elections.
Following the declaration of the results, Hawa Koomson moved around the stadium with some of her supporters, thanking delegates for voting for her and expressing confidence in her ability to lead the party’s women’s wing.
Speaking after her victory, Hawa Koomson said she would bring her experience and maturity to the position and work to strengthen the party’s women’s structures.
She indicated that she would work with her former contender, Mohammed Safia, despite the competition between them during the election.
“We are all NPP members and we are going to work together for victory,” she said.
According to her, her immediate task would be to unite the women of the party and mobilise them to contribute effectively to the NPP’s activities at the grassroots and national levels.
She called for greater support and solidarity among women, and recounted an experience in which she said another woman helped save her life after she was attacked.
Using the experience, Mrs Koomson urged women to have one another’s backs, stressing that women should be ready to support and defend each other.
The former MP spoke about her political journey and her return to a national leadership position after losing the Awutu Senya East parliamentary seat.
She said she had never regarded her political journey as a failure and was proud to have reached the national level to serve the party.
Mrs Koomson said her decision to contest the National Women’s Organiser position was driven by her desire to continue contributing to the NPP and use her experience to support the party.
Hawa Koomson explained the need for women to protect themselves, including the use of pepper spray as a means of self-defence when faced with danger.
She encouraged women to support and defend one another, drawing from her own experience of being attacked and helped by another woman who intervened to save her.
As National Women’s Organiser, she will be responsible for coordinating and mobilising women across the party, strengthening the women’s wing at the constituency and regional levels, and increasing their participation in party activities.
She is expected to work closely with the newly elected national executives to strengthen the party’s structures and prepare its women’s wing for the party’s future political activities.
Mrs Koomson thanked the delegates for the confidence they had placed in her and pledged to work with members of the party as she begins her new role.
By: Jacob Aggrey
John Boadu has been elected as the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) following the party’s National Delegates Conference held on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.
Boadu secured a decisive victory with 2,888 votes, beating his closest contender Boakye Agyarko who polled 2,408 votes.
Former Chairman Paul Afoko garnered 790 votes, while Sammy Crabbe managed 41 votes.
The victory marks a major political comeback for John Boadu, who previously served as the party’s General Secretary.
Ahead of the elections, Sammy Crabbe had reportedly pulled out of the race to form an alliance with John Boadu, a move that appears to have strengthened Boadu’s numbers on the day.
The keenly contested chairmanship race was a highlight of the 2026 National Executives Election, which drew thousands of delegates from across the country to Kumasi.
Boadu is expected to lead the party’s reorganization efforts ahead of the 2028 general elections.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
