Ex-convict reveals plot to kill senior opposition politicians

An ex-convict in Zambia had confessed to killing senior politician Paul Tembo and to involvement in a plot to assassinate other opposition leaders, an AFP report said on Thursday. A senior police officer told AFP that Chrispin Mwale was arrested and detained after he confessed to killing Tembo.

"We are trying to investigate the matter before coming up with a public statement," the police officer was quoted as saying. Outspoken opposition leader Edith Nawakwi was quoted by AFP as saying that she discovered Mwale was involved in the killing, and had arranged for police to hear his confession with her. Mwale was taken to the central police station in Lusaka for questioning, but had not yet been charged with any crime by Wednesday night.

The report said that during his statement to Nawakwi and police, Mwale said he had been in prison to serve a sentence for robbery. Mwale said he was recruited in the prison and told that his release would be arranged if he agreed to work with a group that would conduct political killings, police said. He said Nawakwi was among the people targeted for assassination, police added.

Tembo was shot dead in his home on 6 July by two assailants armed with pistols. He had been expected to testify before a special tribunal later that day in a corruption scandal involving three cabinet ministers of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD).