Former First Lady Esther Lungu says the 15 properties in Lusaka’s State Lodge area that have been seized by the (Drug Enforcement Commission) DEC, belong to her.
Mrs. Lungu says she acquired the said properties in 2015.
She has since accused the DEC of having trespassed on the properties and that the Commission’s continued stay on the property constitutes a continued trespass.
This is contained in a letter of demand to the Commission’s Director General, Mary Chirwa, by Mrs. Lungu’s lawyer Makrbi Zulu.
Mrs. Lungu said the Commission should have been diligent enough to conduct an elementary search at the Ministry of Lands, to affirm that she owns the said properties.
The Former First Lady has since asked the DEC to leave the said properties adding that it is inappropriate for the commission to infringe on her rights to property solely based on their inability to conduct investigations professionally.
On Friday July 1, DEC repossessed the properties for allegedly being proceeds of crime where they revealed that they belong to a woman named Esther NYAWA TEMBO.
But DEC Director General Mary Chirwa said that the Commission has not received any correspondence.
Ms Chirwa said the Commission has engaged the Department of National Registration to verify the NRC number for Esther Nyawa Tembo appearing on the State Lodge properties which were repossessed last week.
She said the department has also been asked to identify the said Esther Nyawa Tembo.
Ms Chirwa said the commission has also engaged ZESCO to help with identification of Ms. Tembo, whose name appears on the documents.
She said the Commission has decided to independently verify the identity of the accused because no one has presented themselves regarding the 15 flats in State Lodge suspected to have been constructed using proceeds of crime.
It’s her property with question marks. She gotta prove them wrong.
Some of us saw her building, but what we didn’t know was the source of the resources. So it’s difficult to make a fair comment except to wait and see
First Ladies don’t get paid, so where did she get the money from. Did she get mortgage from the bank or was it cash?
Strange, firstly, from a business perspective, someone who would build flats like that in such an area of New Kasama does not really need the money because it is not a place people want to rent in.
When the money isn’t hard earned the investor will not think like you have.
Kawalala without doubt. Where did she get the money from? This abuse especially of first ladyship must end. Where in the Zambian constitution does it grant the spouse of an elected president a job as first Lady? Who pays her our hard earned tax? Why? Some of us did raise our eyebrows and our disgust when she insisted on traveling to the US to receive a fire engine. Had she used her own plane ticket I would have agreed. But our tax for allowances and entourage?? Why? When the Americans could have shipped the thing to us for free? Greed yamutundu uyu must be curbed. Curbed by us the voters. Because presidents will never stop it.
Finally the cat is out of the bag. Amwa peeling to tell us how you acquired that land in the first place and what criteria was used since this is state lodge land and where did the source,of funding come from since you were not in gainful employment.
Please show me one civil servant who can build 15 flats from a salary in his job for five years. Ok let’s make it 15 years. Anyone who can’t see the connection between acquiring wealth and state house must be dumb. But do we elect people to get rich? Do we elect them to leave us in poverty?
There is an element of unprofessionalism in the manner the DEC is conducting itself. Its like they want to show the public that they are working but ending up showing their incompetency. They knew who the owner of the flats was. All they needed to do is find the source of the money. No wonder we have not seen any conviction up to now.
They knew who the owner was , but……….
Needed her to clarify where she got the money ……….
How can they investigate the source without the owner stating where the source was ?????.
Very true. They are playing to the gallery. That’s politics. But we want our money no publicity campaign will substitute that.
Her main problem is in her defence she states she built the properties with money aquired as a gift during her trip to the USA to get those scape metal fire trucks.
Was that trip financed by her self or the state for personal gain……???
The USA government does not like the lungu regime who Biden publicly called out as corrupt at the UN…………
So it won’t be hard to engage the US government to prove the source of her gift while in the USA…………..
Spaka, where can I find the info where she defends herself as having received money as a gift?
We will appreciate DEC, ACC and any other investigative institutions when they first establish the crime committed, present before court,secure a conviction and consequently resposess properties as proceeds of crime. Not the other way round. It simply smacks of vindictiness.
Never give the properties back these thieves and criminals. They are responsible to the current deaths and hunger affecting millions of poor Zambians. Just arrest her and throw her into prison.
Acc are a bunch of lazy illiterate upnd cadres who are being commanded to act by the angry baby hh. We have the best lawyers and will ensure that acc are taken the cleaners. You cannot trespass and seize property owned by a private individual. You think only hh has the capacity to own property. You will see
Why censor my post? Why moderate my post? Because it is anti politics???