In the Namwala district of Southern province, Zambia, a Roman Catholic priest has allegedly taken his own life.
The late priest, Father Kenan Chibawe, aged 51, of Holy Cross Namwala Catholic Parish, shot himself to the head with a Shot-gun on April 21st.
The incident was confirmed by the Southern Province Deputy Police Commissioner, Alfred Nawa, who said it was reported by Catholic Priest, Father Patrick Kabombe of the same Parish.
According to Father Kabombe, the late Father Chibawe and the rest of the church leadership were in a meeting to review the Easter celebration when he excused himself after receiving a phone call from an unknown person.
He added that after 20 minutes, they heard a loud gunshot in the Priest’s room, only for them to rush there and find him dead in a pool or blood, with a short gun beside him.
Authorities said he accidentally shot himself while servicing a fiream, but it seems unlikely for the deceased to be servicing a fiream during a meeting.
Kenan Chibawe was on Monday, 25th April, put to rest in his home town village at Ntambo in Monze. His burial was preceded with a church service and was attended by several family and church members.
The 51-year-old Zambian pastor was ordained as a Priest in 1999 and was in charge of the Holy Cross Parish in Namwala at the time of his death.
