“The African President Who Dumped His Wife For Cheating With A Businessman.”
The divorce between Zambia’s former president Frederick Chiluba and his wife Vera Chiluba became one of the most expensive divorce cases in Zambia’s history.
The two had been married for 33 years and had nine children together. However, in 2000, Chiluba shocked the nation when he ordered his wife, First Lady Vera Chiluba, to leave the presidential residence.
Chiluba accused Vera of having an extramarital affair with a local Lusaka-based businessman Mactribouy Archie. The businessman strongly denied the allegation, maintaining that Vera was only his business associate
Around the same time, Archie was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery involving a stolen vehicle. He and his lawyers claimed that the case had been orchestrated by Chiluba because of the alleged relationship. Archie spent more than a year in prison before he was eventually acquitted.
What followed was a prolonged legal battle between Chiluba and his estranged wife.
Vera initially sought a staggering $2.5 billion as part of the divorce settlement, an amount that was more than three-quarters of Zambia’s GDP at the time. She also sought several properties, including six houses and a farm, as well as hundreds of cattle, sheep and goats.
In October 2002, the court ordered Chiluba to share 40 percent of his retirement pension with Vera for as long as she remained unmarried. She was also awarded the family home in Ndola where she was living, together with property already in her possession.
After his divorce from Vera, Frederick Chiluba married Regina Chiluba, who remained his wife until his death in 2011.
Haneef Rajab