Murdered Habeenzu honoured with military funeral
40-YEAR-OLD Matimba Habeenzu, the Zambia Army Warrant Officer Class II who was allegedly shot by her male acquaintance and workmate, Warrant Officer Mwanauta Chansa, has been laid to rest in Kabwe with full military honours.
Mwanauta is alleged to have shot Habeenzu in the forehead before fleeing and later taking his own life, reportedly believing that he had killed her.
While Mwanauta’s body lay in the mortuary and was later buried at Leopards Hill Memorial Park, Matimba was fighting for her life and recovering from the gunshot wound.
On June 25, doctors at the University Teaching Hospitals —UTH, where she had been receiving treatment, deemed her fit for discharge.
However, she reportedly spent only a few hours at home before suddenly becoming unconscious.
She was rushed to Maina Soko Medical Centre, where she was pronounced dead at 00:04 hours.
Unlike her acquaintance, who was not accorded a military burial due to the circumstances surrounding his death, Matimba was honoured with a full military funeral, with her casket draped in the Zambian flag.
Since joining the Zambia Army in 2012, Matimba served in various capacities and postings.
She participated in a United Nations peacekeeping mission and, at one point, served as a female driver at Kalewa Barracks.
Family members, friends and colleagues have remembered her as a jovial, dedicated and kind-hearted individual whose service to the nation will not be forgotten.
©TV Yatu | July 1, 2026.