Esther cries persecution, says 15 pricy flats are matrimonial property
FORMER First Lady Esther Lungu has cried persecution as part of her defense before the Economic and Financial Crimes Court saying attempts by the State to grab her 15 double storey houses on suspicion that they are proceeds of crime is a witch-hunt.
Esther said after her husband Edgar Lungu lost presidential power in the August 12, 2021 election her family has been actively targeted by law enforcement agencies.
She has cried to the court that the said government agencies have falsely accused her family of engaging in crime when her husband served as President and the proceedings instituted by the DPP are an attempt to label her husband and their offspring as criminals based on baseless accusations without proper evidence.
In this matter the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Gilbert Phiri moved a motion before the Economic and Financial Crimes Court (High Court division) to have the properties worth K41, 586, 110. 66. forfeited to the State on suspicion that they are tainted.
The notice of a non conviction based forfeiture order of tainted property was made pursuant to Order 30 Rules 15 and 17 of the High Court Rules, read together with Sections 29 and 31 of the forfeiture of proceeds of crime Act no. 19 of 2010.
However Esther has declared interest in her semi luxurious houses which the State wants to grab, indicating that they were not built using black market money.
She argues that though the 15 double storey flats she is accused of dubiously acquiring are registered in her name, they are matrimonial property which were built by her husband Edgar Lungu.
Esther has charged that Emmanuel Khondowe, a senior investigations officer at the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) under the anti-money laundering investigations unit is not a qualified accountant nor an auditor to analyse her financial status and statements.
She said Khondowe is inexperienced in balancing the books hence he cannot gather financial information about her, analyse it and draw an opinionated conclusion that the property is tainted without conducting a proper financial audit.
In an affidavit of interested party filed in opposition to notice of motion Esther said properties no. 9334/1, 9334/2 9334/3 and 9334/4 Lusaka in State lodge Chongwe were legitimately acquired as she has never engaged in crime.
“I strongly dispute as I have not been involved in any alleged serious offence or foreign serious offence and categorically deny that the said properties are either wholly or partly derived or realized directly or indirectly by either myself or any other person from the commission of a serious offence or a foreign serious offence,” Esther said.
She explained that when she was quizzed about how the properties came into her possession by the DEC on July 26, 2022 she informed Khondowe that the houses were acquired by herself through a direct lease from the commissioner of lands then Barnabus Mulenga.
Esther explained that by virtue of her marriage to Lungu said that the properties were not disproportionate to her earnings as she has a good employment history (CV).
“It is a well known fact that I was the first lady of Zambia as I am married to the former President Edgar Lungu, and that prior to becoming the first lady as aforesaid,I worked for the Zambia Council for the Blind and Handicapped ; the Christian Council of Zambia ; under the United National High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for Refugee counseling services;the Legal Services Corporation;Lusulo and Company; Toplis and Harding Insurance Loss Adjusters; and Independent Insurance Loss Adjusters,” she said.
Ether said she would save the per diems she got on every trip she undertook whilst in formal employment.
“Upon retirement from formal employment,I was involved in NGOs which enabled me to travel internationally to exhibit and sell Zambian products in liaison with the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) where I realized some finances,”Esther explained.
She said she also accrued allowances from the foreign and local trips in her capacity as First Lady.
“I personally informed Khondowe of the source of income that I had acquired both during the said period and the period prior to the said investigations,”Esther said.
“I wish to state that the aforesaid properties registered in my name are in fact matrimonial properties which information was also conveyed to Khondowe the investigation officer and that these properties were developed by my husband (Lungu).”
She disputed the value of the properties claiming it is intentionally inflated.
Esther said the State has failed to give particulars of the alleged serious offence or foreign serious offence nor unlawful activity associated with her persona or any of the properties listed in the application.
She stated that the State has failed to produce sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the 15 flats are proceeds of crime.
The impassioned queen of pleas begged the Court to see to it that her constitutional right of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty should be respected.
She said the State should not publicly convict her on the acquisition of property as it is her constitutional right to be accorded some respect and a right to a fair trial.
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba