FORMER first lady Esther Lungu has failed to avail herself for questioning after being summoned by DEC saying the summon came at short notice

FORMER first lady Esther Lungu has failed to avail herself for questioning after being summoned by DEC saying the summon came at short notice.

Her lawyers have asked for more time and have rescheduled the meeting to next week Tuesday.

This is in connection with the 15 houses seized by DEC which she has claimed ownership.

The 15 double-storey houses possessed by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) last week but now being claimed by former First Lady Esther Lungu are said to have been built on undesignated land that has no title deeds. 

Minister of Lands Elijah Muchima said the ministry has no record to show coordinates for the land upon which the seized houses have been built. 

“That means the houses are not under a designated land. The land on which they are built has no title,” Mr Muchima said. 

DEC had earlier said they did not want to speculate regarding ownership of the properties. 

“We don’t want to accuse anyone yet, but our investigations point to an Esther Nyawa Tembo as being the owner of the houses,” Mr Kamanga said.

After a weekend of speculations, yesterday Makebi Zulu Advocates, acting on behalf of Mrs Lungu, confirmed that indeed the 15 properties belong to the former First Lady, who also has title to the housing complex. 

“Our client has instructed us to inform yourselves (DEC) that the property in issue is her property and your officers have trespassed on the said property and their continued stay on the property constitutes trespass,” the lawyers said. 

“If your office had been diligent enough to conduct an elementary search at the Ministry of Lands, you would have concluded that our client owns the property instead of embarking on a media stunt which, in our view, is meant to impute wrongdoing on the part of our client in relation to the said properties, especially that you state that DEC has taken over property that is believed to have been abandoned and draw a conclusion that ‘whoever the owner is may be running away… ‘