FDD leader Edith Nawakwi has appeared in the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court and denied interfering in the affairs of her late husband Geoffrey Hambulo’s estate.

Nawakwi appeared before magistrate Nthandose Chabala where she pleaded not guilty to the charge of intermeddling.

In this matter, one of the six children of the late Hambulo has lodged a complaint in the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court against Nawakwi over his late father’s estate, on his behalf and that of five others.

Particulars of the offence allege that Nawakwi between December 2021 and January 2022 moved a planter (John Deer), Sherrer; Forklifter; Cutter and Baileigh, which properties form part of the estate of the late Hambulo to her farm in Chisamba.

It is also alleged that Nawakwi between January 24 and 25, 2022 declined to handover keys to properties forming part of the estate of the late, and that she has continued to tell people who are supposed to handover property forming part of the estate and the tenants renting flats at Plot No. 54, Luwato Road, Roma, Lusaka to ignore the letters of administration issued by the High Court, labelling them as fake so that she can collect the same.

It is further alleged that between January 12 and 25, 2022, Nawakwi continued to claim the deceased’s farm as her own and threatening the administrators and using insulting language against them.

Mulundu Hambulo argues that Nawakwi would continue intermeddling with his father’s estate if she was not stopped.

In an affidavit in support of the complaint, Mulundu stated that he was one of the administrators of the estate of his late father, Hambulo, who died on December 5, 2021 at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka.

He stated that Hambulo left six children who were living in different parts of the world.

Mulundu stated that prior to his father’s demise, Nawakwi lived with and was cohabiting with his father who later died intestate.

He stated that he approached the High Court together with his brother Mweemba for an application for letters of administration, which were granted to both of them in January this year.

Mulundu stated that he obtained the said letters of administration and immediately started administering his father’s estate by collecting all assets and conducting an inventory of the same.

He claimed that he approached Nawakwi to hand over the keys to properties forming part of his father’s estate but she declined to do so.

Mulundu stated that Nawakwi refused to hand over the keys to the properties at the farm which are under lock and key.

He further accused Nawakwi of having collected rentals from flats which form part of the said estate for the month of December 2021 and also transferred some machinery between December 2021 and January 2022 to her farm in Chisamba.

Mulundu claimed that Nawakwi had been threatening him despite being a lawfully appointed administrator from doing his job and she has been claiming some of the estates which form part of his father’s estate.

He stated that the estate may suffer irreparable harm if Nawakwi continued to act in the manner she was behaving, adding that there is no amount of damages that may compensate for the same.

The matter comes up on March 21 for mention and April 1, 2022 for commencement of trial.

Nawakwi is represented by Lusaka lawyer State Counsel, Chifumu Banda.

After the court session, Nawakwi told journalists that Hambulo left behind an aged mother as well as dependants who also had the right to benefit from his estate.

“For every right, there are obligations. Moral obligations, family obligations. Everyone and I think the dependants have the right to finish education. The late was survived by a mother, she is still alive, she is 86, she too has a right. It cannot be a right of two individuals who were given the opportunity to go to school, some flunked and chased out of universities, good universities in America, some flunked out of aviation schools, so to every obligation, there is a right,” said Nawakwi.