Zambian Police Quiz Ex-Leader Lungu’s Wife Over Car ‘Grab’ Claim

Taonga Mitimingi
·1 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Zambian police questioned ex-President Edgar Lungu’s wife Esther over her possession of three vehicles after having earlier surrounded the couple’s house and demanded access to search it.

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Police received a complaint from two women that the former first lady had “grabbed” three vehicles and a property title deed from them, according to a statement. These allegations from the police were “insulting,” her lawyer Makebi Zulu said. Esther gave her side of the story to the police and “we hope they’ve understood that she is a victim in all this,” he said in comments broadcast online.

The residence was encircled by police early Wednesday morning, according to Raphael Nakacinda, a spokesman for Lungu’s Patriotic Front party and a former lawmaker.

“We woke up to a rude shock of having a battalion of police officers surrounding the house of the former president, and insisting that they want to have access to search the premises,” he said in comments broadcast on Hot FM radio that’s based in the capital, Lusaka.

In July, the Drug Enforcement Commission, an anti-graft agency, questioned Esther Lungu over her alleged ownership of 15 houses in Lusaka.

Lungu and the Patriotic Front lost power to Hakainde Hichilema and his United Party for National Development in an August 2021 election.

--With assistance from Matthew Hill.

(Recasts with police questioning Edgar Lungu’s wife Esther)

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