A prominent Zambian politician was gunned down in front of his wife during the early hours of yesterday morning, just hours before he was due to give vital testimony to a tribunal investigating senior government corruption.
Paul Tembo, a former confidante of President Frederick Chiluba, recently defected to Zambia's swelling opposition ranks. He was killed after armed men burst into his bedroom, molested his wife and shot him in the head.
Friends and colleagues said they suspected it was a political assassination.
"Tembo had a wealth of information which was going to guarantee that a good number of powerful people would be locked away," said his lawyer, Mr Sakwiba Sikota.
Yesterday morning Mr Tembo had been scheduled to testify to a state tribunal investigating the transfer of $540,000 from government coffers to the ruling MMD party.
The apparent assassination comes at a sensitive time for President Chiluba, as African leaders stream into Lusaka in advance of next week's annual summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The event is costing Zambia in excess of $20 million - a considerable sum in a country crippled by a $7 billion national debt and where last year's health spending amounted to just $57 million.
Opposition figures have criticised the preparations, notably the importing of more than 60 Mercedes Benz vehicles for the summit.
Mr Chiluba recently dropped a campaign for a third presidential term following an intense public outcry. Mr Chiluba is only Zambia's second leader since independence in 1964 and, although the country has avoided war, it has become one of the world's poorest nations.
Mr Tembo, a long-time MMD stalwart, split from the party following last April's acrimonious national conference.
He was defeated in his attempt for the party vice-presidency by just one vote. When it later emerged that the Finance Minister, Dr Katele Kalumba, had paid for the conference from government funds, a tribunal was convened and Mr Tembo was due to testify yesterday morning.
Many Zambians voiced suspicions that the shooting, which initially appeared to be a robbery, bore the hallmarks of a political assassination.
"His wallet was still by the bedside, as well as an expensive watch," said Mr Dipak Patel, who visited the Tembo house.
"What a coincidence, just seven hours before the tribunal," he added. Many others shared his suspicions.
"We knew that Tembo was very close to the top structures of the MMD. Is it because he knew too much that he was killed?" said Mr Sam Mulafulafu of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace.
The Zambian police promised to fully investigate the death but many Zambians are sceptical.
The Oasis Forum, an alliance of church leaders, lawyers and NGOs campaigning to force Mr Chiluba from office later this year, said in a statement yesterday it was "horrified" at the insecurity in the once peaceful nation. "There have been such cold-blooded murders in the past and no action has been taken by the government which claims to be Christian and democratic.