Africa-Press – Zambia. BRIEFING | Court Orders Forfeiture of Lungu Assets in Major Proceeds-of-Crime Ruling
The Lusaka High Court’s Economic and Financial Crimes Court has ordered the forfeiture of properties worth more than K24 million belonging to Dalitso Lungu, son of late former President Edgar Lungu, after finding that the assets were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime.
The ruling, delivered under Zambia’s non-conviction based forfeiture framework, results in the State taking possession of over 69 motor vehicles and 23 pieces of land located across the country.
In its judgment, the court noted that investigations into Mr. Lungu’s financial capacity raised serious concerns, particularly regarding his compliance with tax obligations. The court heard that the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) records reflected repeated submission of nil tax returns, suggesting no declared income from employment or business activity that could reasonably explain the scale of the acquisitions.
The court found that the funds used to purchase the properties were “reasonably suspected” to have been obtained through unlawful conduct, including money laundering and tax evasion, and that the failure to establish legitimate income sources rendered the assets tainted.
The forfeiture application was brought by Director of Public Prosecutions Gilbert Phiri, who pursued the matter through a civil process that allows the State to recover assets without requiring a criminal conviction, provided the court is satisfied that the property is linked to illicit activity.
The court ordered that the forfeited assets be applied as the DPP deems fit, within the confines of the law.
The decision is one of the most significant forfeiture rulings involving the family of a former head of state in recent years, and it comes at a politically sensitive moment, with former President Lungu having died in South Africa on June 5, 2025, and remaining unburied eight months later.
Across PF-aligned social media networks and WhatsApp groups, supporters have framed the ruling as insensitive, arguing that the State is targeting the former first family during a period of mourning. Some have sought to fold the forfeiture into funeral rhetoric, portraying it as political punishment rather than a legal process.
However, the court’s decision underscores a key reality: forfeiture proceedings are judicial actions grounded in evidentiary thresholds, not executive pronouncements. The judgment was not issued by State House, but by a court applying Zambia’s financial crimes and asset recovery laws.
Since taking office in 2021, the UPND administration has pursued an aggressive anti-corruption posture, marked by high-profile arrests, prosecutions, and asset seizures involving several former PF officials. Critics describe the campaign as selective or politically charged, while government argues it is part of restoring fiscal discipline and accountability after years of debt distress and institutional weakening.
This latest ruling therefore sits at the intersection of law, politics, and public emotion: a court-driven forfeiture process unfolding in the shadow of an unresolved burial dispute, and in an environment where corruption enforcement is increasingly interpreted through partisan lenses.
The broader question now is whether Zambia’s anti-corruption drive can maintain legal credibility, institutional fairness, and public confidence, even when it touches the most politically sensitive families in the country.
© The People’s Brief | Goran Handya
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