The Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a 25-year-old rabbit farmer from Barlaston Park to five years of imprisonment with hard labor for inciting the military to overthrow the Zambian government.
Brighton Mwanza was convicted of inciting mutiny, an offense under Section 48 of the Penal Code Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia. The verdict was delivered by Magistrate Trevor Kasanda.
According to court records, on July 30, 2023, Mwanza used his Twitter account, @brighton-zm, to post messages that authorities deemed incitement to mutiny. One of his tweets read:
“African countries are slowly liberating themselves—Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger, etc.—and soon Zambians will realize that our democracy is being used to exploit ordinary citizens. This is a wake-up call to our men and women in uniform to fight and defend Mother Zambia now.”
Senior Superintendent Prince Kalala, a 47-year-old cybercrime investigator, testified that he was assigned to analyze content circulating on social media, particularly discussions referencing recent military takeovers in West Africa. His investigation traced the tweets back to Mwanza’s Twitter account, linking it to his registered mobile number and Gmail account.
Further analysis uncovered another tweet from Mwanza on July 29, 2023, stating:
“The price of mealie meal is now K300.00? Captain Solo would have done something. We are getting soft as a nation and these politicians are taking us for granted.”
Investigators noted that “Captain Solo” referred to Captain Stephen Lungu, a Zambia Army officer who led an attempted coup on October 28, 1997.
In his defense, Mwanza admitted to posting the tweets but argued that they were unrelated. He stated that the first tweet was a commentary on rising food prices while the second addressed neo-colonialism in Africa. He maintained that he had no intention of inciting mutiny.
However, Magistrate Kasanda ruled that the tweets, particularly the one calling on military personnel to “fight and defend Mother Zambia,” constituted incitement to mutiny. The court found Mwanza guilty and sentenced him to five years in prison with hard labor.
