Former First Lady of Zambia Esther Lungu, has been invited by the Zambian Police Force for interrogation on Wednesday September 6 at 10:00AM.
The Police did not state specific reasons for the invitation of the former First Lady, however, there are speculations that it might have something to do with her husband, former President of Zambia Edgar Lungu’s involvement with Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa.
Former President Lungu on Monday, September 4, graced the inauguration of recently elected Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Police Information and Publicity Chairperson, Raphael Nakacinda, claims that President Hakainde Hichilema gave the order for the Police to summon Esther Lungu, following her husband’s outings at the inauguration ceremony of President Mnangagwa.
Zambia’s President Hichilema, who is presently the Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, had sent election observers to Zimbabwe’s harmonised election.
However, the observers returned with news that the elections did fell short of regional and international standards.
Lungu’s appearance at Mnangagwa’s inauguration in spite of controversies surrounding his emergence as President, seems to have been a calculated response to President Hichilema’s decision to shun the event.
Zambian politician, author, and activist Joseph Kalimbwe in a post on X (Twitter), says authorities should summon former President Lungu next, after his wife Esther.
“Lungu’s wife has just been summoned to appear before the Zambia Police Tomorrow morning. Next, we must go for Lungu himself. We must never let any person undermine our institutions. Equally external forces must understand !!!” He wrote.
The Zambian Police in May of this year, forcibly gained access into the home of former President Edgar Lungu in Lusaka, after a corruption investigation led them there.
This came months after Zambia’s anti-money laundering agency invited the former First Lady Esther Lungu on account of 15 luxury flats ownership in Lusaka, following suspicions that the properties were acquired through corrupt means.
However, the former first family denied any involvement in illicit deeds. There were no pressed charges, and the matter was closed, according to Lungu’s lawyer.
Overtime, some political critics have accused the Hichilema-led administration of victimising political opponents through its anti-corruption campaigns.
The Zambian president, has denied all claims that the campaign is out to target those who are not in synchronisation with his political party and ideologies.
Critics argue that the government’s anti-corruption campaign is being employed to target and intimidate political opponents. Several officials who served under former President Lungu have been arrested, and his family members have been questioned.
Both Hichilema and Lungu will go head to head in the 2026 presidential elections in 2026, all things being equal.
