Prominent Lusaka lawyer, John Sangwa SC has laughed off assertions by ba Edgar Lungu ‘ati’ he was a topnotch lawyer!
“When he was practicing, Edgar Lungu was an indisciplined lawyer who would come to court unprepared and reeking of alcohol,” reveals Sangwa in a podcast interview.
He further disclosed that as one of the lawyers representing those jointly charged with President Chiluba in the corruption and plunder cases early 2000s, ba Lungu would pitch up in court totally blank…..without a clue as to where the case had ended, previously. Court clerks would normally come to his aid most of the time.
What do we make of this?
Well, we shall begin by explaining the meaning of topnotch lawyer. Topnotch simply means something of a high quality or value. You do not therefore expect topnotch lawyers to come cheap. A few individuals from ba Lungu’s time as a lawyer that could easily fit into the “Ivy League” of lawyers obviously include the likes of Vincent Malambo, Sakwiba Sikota, Robert Simeza, John Sangwa, Erick Silwamba and the madam at the Electoral Commission of Zambia, Mwangala Zaloumis.
These guys normally live in upscale neighbourhoods, they’re usually chauffeur driven in state of the art SUVs and it would cost you an arm and a leg to access their services. These are not the kind of lawyers that to easily “chew” money of a widow as it happened with ba Lungu in 2010. Ba Lungu can’t wake up today and claim he was a topnotch lawyer; he couldn’t make the cut! Those who knew him them would tell he lived in a modest bungalow in ‘kwa’ Jack but usually found himself in Chawama compound where he would enjoy his favourite Jameson, from time to time!
To further add weight to Sangwa’s assertions, this author has interacted with senior prosecutors from the National Prosecutions Authority who’ve dealt with ba Lungu as a lawyer. They’ve no or little regard for the man! According to them, he would pitch up in Court with unkempt hair and ruffled suits only to seek adjournments as he wasn’t ready to proceed with his cases most of the time.
We therefore find it absolutely ludicrous that today, ba Lungu can claim he used part of the money he earned as a lawyer to prop-up his wife’s and children’s businesses therefore helping making them become proud owners of properties spanning from highly mechanised farms, breathtaking mansions in secluded neighborhoods, impressive SUVs and boasting of substantial amounts of cash in Banks and garages!
Naimwe ba so-called investigative wings, are you telling us you can’t establish the trail of ba Lungu’s unexplained wealth from the time he acted as a lawyer living in kwa Jack to date?
Prince Bill M Kaping’a
Polical/Social Analyst
I wish my late friend Nicholas Chanda was available to give us his views.He was such brilliant and he used to work well with his fellow lawyers and used to render support when there was need.MSRIP.
There are a lot of lawyers in Zambia, top notch who are not into high profile political cases.. Being top notch lawyer doesn’t mean representing politicians..if you want to be a pauper, represent politicians. They like pro Bono services. There are lawyers who don’t like these cases..but are very respected and represent clients in business and criminal cases away from the media or public eye..and they are very rich. But on lawyers and their love for whiskey, ECL wasn’t and isn’t the only one. Most lawyers have a beer problem…my bet is that even John Sangwa is in love with Whiskey…unless he has changed.But if his Unza campus drinking habits are anything to go by, am sure even him wasn’t/isn’t all the time sober in the Court room.
On ECL if his love for whiskey was a vice for him, well the man became MP for Chawama..he was deputy Minister in the Vice President’s office, Justice Minister, Home Affairs Minister, Defense Minister, PF Secretary General, Acting President, and finally President of Zambia for 7 years. If his being a drunkard can achieve all these, then his drunkenness for him looks like virtue..Seems to have worked for him!
Iwe katwishi what is wrong with you….seems you don’t have a clue on what “top notch” means ..
Va top notch lawyer who failed to move his children out of the govt ministerial house when he was elevated to president? Let him voluntarily relinquish his immunity so that he defends his sources of income. I can assure you he won’t, hence the desperation to try to come back as president. Luckily that won’t happen.
@wapya munzi
Educating me on what top notch means? My friend I have mastered the English language…Theres nothing I can learn from a Praise Thug like you.
Know that being Top Notch can be looked at as a relative concept. The benchmark you put can define who you regard as a top notch lawyer. If you regard representing Politicians in high profile cases qualifies one to be classified as a Top Notch Lawyer that’s your own criteria…What am saying is that I dont subscribe to this thinking..There are suberb, excellent, top class ( all synonyms of top notch) who are there in Zambia serving the public away from the media , whose accomplishments can’t be compared to the people on Bill Kapinga’s Top Notch lawyers list like Mwangala Zaloumis..John Sangwa etc..the last one is just a noise maker, who tries to look intelligent, when he is not.
And look at the context of Bill Kapinga’s post…then you will understand my comment.
You’re hallucinating again.
It’s simple Edgar was a useless lawyer and a thief. What destroyed Edgar more was the bottle – beer. You can’t combine beer with hard work and success. Many people’ s talents and successes have been ruined by excessive beer consumption. Nevertheless moderate beer consumption is harmless.
You have forgotten that he is also a CHIKALA