Claim
The Patriotic Front (PF) has accused United Party for National Development (UPND) youths of beating up mourners during a burial ceremony at Chingola Roadside Cemetery in Kitwe. The Party claimed in a caption accompanying a video posted on its Facebook page on August 2 2022 that those seen attacking people at the graveyard were UPND youths. In the video, people wearing black attire and red hats are seen beating people at the graveyard. The video has since triggered thousands of comments on social media as this is not the first time the public has seen trending videos of suspected UPND cadres attacking people.
Rating Justification
Our fact checking process has determined as false the claim by the Patriotic Front Facebook page that UPND cadres attacked mourners during burial at the Chingola Roadside graveyard in Kitwe.
iVerify Zambia reached out to Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga to verify the matter. Mr Hamoonga said in an interview that people masquerading as UPND members, attacked mourners at the graveyard in Kitwe during the burial of a UPND member. Zambia Police, he said, were still investigating the whereabouts of those seen beating mourners at the graveyard.
And the father of the deceased said in a video obtained by iverify Zambia that UPND members had volunteered to bury their colleague, but in the process, unknown people arrived at the scene and began to stone UPND members and members of the deceased’s family. He said as a result of the commotion that ensued, most mourners fled before the end of the burial programme.
