Zambia’s former first lady, Esther Lungu has been arrested on money laundering charges, her lawyer said on Friday. He arrest is coming days after her husband claimed he was being targeted as part of a political vendetta.
According to report, Esther Lungu, 66, was held Thursday evening alongside her two daughters. She was quizzed for hours about properties the family holds in the capital, Lusaka, lawyer Makebi Zulu told AFP.
She, was, however, later released on bail.
Her lawyer, Zulu said, “The former first lady has been arrested for being found in possession of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime and money laundering charges.”
The lawyer said the properties, a block of flats in Lusaka’s high-end New Kasama district, were built by Lungu’s husband, former President Edgar Lungu, 67.
“Zambia’s anti-drug agency said the one time first lady had failed to give a “reasonable explanation” of how she acquired the flats. The estimated cost for the construction of the building is put at 41 million kwacha ($1.6 million).
“They were “reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime”, it added.
Former President Edgar Lungu ruled the copper-rich Zambia from 2015 to 2021. He, however, lost a reelection to President Hakainde Hichilema, who had been a veteran opposition. Hichilema won the election on a landslide.
Recall that in 2023, Lungu announced he was to return to politics, that is in preparation for the general elections scheduled for 2026.
The former President has since complained about a shrinking democratic space in the country. He described the recent arrest as a campaign of harassment against his family.
The Zambian Police has warned him against turning his morning jogs into political events.
Lungu last week claimed he was “practically under house arrest”, which authorities denied.
The media reports that the latest arrest was not the former first lady first run-in with the police.
“Last year her house was raided on accusations she had stolen some vehicles,” the report stated.
source: Channels TV
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