May 31, (THEWILL)- Zambia’s former first lady, Esther Lungu, has been arrested on money laundering charges.
The 66-year-old was arrested on Thursday evening, alongside her two daughters, after being quizzed for hours about properties the family holds in the capital, Lusaka. Her lawyer, Makebi Zulu, said on Friday, adding that “she has now been released on bail.
“The former first lady has been arrested for being found in possession of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime and money laundering charges”, Zulu said.
He said the properties, a block of flats in Lusaka’s high-end New Kasama district, were built by her 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, which had a construction cost of K41 million ($1.6 million).
They were “reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime”, it added.
The latest arrest was not Esther Lungu’s first run-in with police. Last year, her house was raided on accusations she had stolen some vehicles.
Her husband, Edgar Lungu, led copper-rich Zambia from 2015 to 2021, when he lost an election to President Hakainde Hichilema, who had been a veteran opposition leader before winning the poll by a landslide.
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