By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Police in Zambia have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abduction and killing of a newly appointed head of broadcast regulatory agency.
Guntila Muleya’s body was recovered in the outskirts of the capital, Lusaka, on Wednesday with gunshot wounds.
Muleya, the Director General of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was kidnapped after leaving work on Tuesday, the police alleged.
Zambians have however been confused over the IBA chief’s assassination as the motive behind the act is unknown.
The body he headed is responsible for issuance of licenses, setting standards and enforcement of compliance.
Following his failure to return home on Tuesday after close of work, local media reports that his family became apprehensive.
Official report was lodged at local police office after which the search for him commenced.
His body was discovered by a member of the public as he was on his way to work, the police said.
Two bullet cartridges were also found at the scene.
“I want to assure the nation on this sad development that the people involved in this gruesome murder of the IBA director general will be brought to book,” Thabo Kawana, the top civil servant in Zambia’s information ministry, told journalists.
Muleya took over at the IBA in May from his predecessor, a veteran journalist who had headed the authority for 10 years.
He was previously the general manager in Zambia of South African pay TV firm MultiChoice.
IBA in a statement said it was “deeply saddened” by the death and would continue to uphold the value and vision that Muleya championed during his brief tenure.
