YOUNG FOOTBALL REFEREE DIES IN KAZUNGULA POLICE CUSTODY (SUSPECTED SU*ICIDE)

By ZR Reporter

A 26-year-old football referee has died while in police custody in Kazungula, Southern Province, barely six weeks after burying her father.

Milimo Nchimunya Mpongo of Makalanguzu Village was found unresponsive in the female cells at Kazungula Police Station on Friday morning, August 28, 2026.

Southern Province Police Commanding Officer Moono Namalongo confirmed the incident, saying Ms Mpongo had been detained in connection with four separate theft complaints.
According to Mr Namalongo, police had received allegations that Ms Mpongo visited four Airtel Money outlets in Kazungula on August 27 and requested transactions ranging from K1,000 to K3,400 into her mobile money account.

Police allege that after each transaction, she told the operators that she had forgotten the money at home and subsequently left the premises.
She was later apprehended and detained at Kazungula Police Station.

Mr Namalongo said officers interacted with Ms Mpongo at around 07:00 hours on August 28 and found her alive.
She was later discovered unresponsive in the female cells.

Police notified her relatives, and she was taken to Kazungula General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Her body was subsequently transferred to the Livingstone University Teaching Hospital Mortuary for a postmortem examination.

Police have since opened investigations into the circumstances surrounding her death.

Ms Mpongo’s death comes shortly after the loss of her father, whom she and her family buried on July 11, 2026.
She was also known in local football circles as a promising referee and was described as an Arsenal supporter.

Police have not established any link between her recent bereavement and the circumstances surrounding her death.

– Zambia Reports | August 29, 2026