Zambian man arrested after boasting he lost 280 pounds on ‘cannibal diet’

Kabwe | A Zambian man has been arrested by authorities after boasting on social media that he had lost 280 pounds by eating a “human meat-only” diet.

Mwamba Tembo, 43, claims he was overweight until his witch doctor advised him to go on a three-month human bone broth regime.

Tembo shared on social media his progressive weight loss, never divulging that he indulged in human bone broth until the end of his 3-month-long regime.

Tembo allegedly told the police he did not murder anyone but bought human bones for cheap from local gravediggers who took them from “fresh corpses only.”

Mwamba Tembo’s lawyer, Edgar Kabimba, claims his client did nothing illegal as cannibalism or eating human-based produce is not considered a crime in Zambia.

“My client did nothing illegal. He did not murder anyone and making soup from dead people’s bones is certainly not a crime in our country and has been practiced by our ancestors for thousands of years,” lawyer Edgar Kabimba told reporters.

There is currently no law in Zambia that sanctions the action of eating human beings but legal experts believe Tembo could be charged on accusations of desecrating human corpses.

The practice of cannibalism in Zambia has been reported by European explorers on numerous occasions since the 18th century and is believed by anthropologists to have been practiced for thousands of years as well as in certain areas even today.