Chiluba’s children and his widow in row over former leader’s wealth

Lusaka, Monday

The children of a former Zambian leader and their stepmother are wrangling over his assets after it emerged that he only left behind “one Rolex wrist watch”, clothes, shoes and about $1.2 million.

Frederick Chiluba’s children have sued Mrs Regina Chiluba and asked the Lusaka High Court to restrain her from administering their father’s estate.

But Mrs Chiluba said the former president died intestate and asked the children to withdraw the lawsuit to avoid bringing his name into ridicule.

Briefcase emptied

In papers filed in the Lusaka High Court, three of Mr Chiluba’s children on behalf of their siblings, stated that soon after their father’s death, a briefcase containing his personal and other documents was opened and emptied of various documents by their stepmother.

The children said their father had shown them “his last will”.

They said they were “extremely disturbed and became highly suspicious” with their stepmother’s premature and hasty decision to secure letters of administration in her favour.

The children said they objected to Mrs Chiluba and her grandson, Mr Musonda Chisulo, administering their father’s estate, but she defied them.

The children stated that at a family meeting after Mr Chiluba’s burial, Mrs Chiluba and a family member, Mr Benjamin Mwila, told some of the children that “apart from one Rolex wrist watch, Chiluba had only left significant personal effects such as clothes and shoes, and nothing worth administering”.

Letters of administration

“In spite of what Regina and Mwila said, when Regina and Musonda Chisulo were applying for letters of administration, the two made a declaration of Dr Chiluba’s estate on oath, saying it was valued at K6.2 billion (about $1.2 million), but regrettably they could not disclose how this amount was made up,” the children stated.

“We now want the court to decide on how the estate should be administered,” the children demanded.

But Mrs Chiluba said she was ready for a legal battle.

“The appeal is that they (Chiluba’s children) should allow his name to remain in dignity even during this critical period. It should not be brought to public ridicule or that the family should be seen to be wrangling,” said Mrs Chiluba through a spokesperson, Mr Emmanuel Mwamba.

“If anyone wishes to take these matters in a legal way, the family is ready to fight off such action,” she added.

Mr Chiluba, Zambia’s first democratically elected president and who ruled between 1991 and 2001, died aged 68 at his Lusaka residence in June.
Mr Chiluba, a flamboyantly dressed leader, fought a seven-year corruption trial.

A UK court found Mr Chiluba and his seven associates — in absentia — guilty of theft of $46 million and ordered them to repay $58 million to Zambia, but he rubbished the verdict.

A Zambian subordinate court in 2009 acquitted Mr Chiluba of theft of $500,000 public funds.