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A dramatic courtroom reckoning unfolded when the Economic and Financial Crimes Court ordered the forfeiture of 69 vehicles valued at more than K24 million and 25 pieces of land linked to Daliso Lungu, son of late sixth president Edgar Lungu, ruling that the assets were tainted and unexplained.
Daliso had submitted to the court insisting the wealth was family-funded. In an affidavit, he argued that his father financed the purchases and developments, stating that the properties were lawfully acquired through a family business, Saloid Traders Limited.
“I admit that I own the properties averred therein and the same are not proceeds of crime as I genuinely acquired the same,” he told the court.
But the three-member bench—Justices Pixie Yangailo, Anna Malata Ononuji, and Ian Mabbolobbolo—was unconvinced.
Read more: DPP challenges ex-President Lungu’s son, Daliso’s claims on property ownership
Delivering a detailed judgment, the court found that Daliso failed to discharge the legal burden placed on him.
“Based on the evidence tendered… the properties cited are tainted property and proceeds of crime,” the bench ruled, adding that the interested parties “failed to adduce sufficient evidence… to discharge the evidentiary burden.”
Daliso leaned heavily on constitutional protections of property ownership, arguing that forfeiture without proof of a specific offence violated Article 16.
The court rejected that argument, emphasizing that property rights are not absolute.
“There can be no guaranteed right to a property whose origins cannot be legally justified by the person claiming an interest in it,” the judges stated, citing precedents that upheld non-conviction-based forfeiture.
Investigators traced Daliso’s financial footprint across ZRA, RTSA, the Ministry of Lands, NAPSA, and several banks. The court noted nil tax returns and a lack of discernible income capable of supporting the acquisitions, creating “reasonable suspicion” of illicit origins.
It also dismissed objections to the diversion of approximately US$800 per month in rentals from a TotalEnergies property into a forfeiture account, ruling that no law barred the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from issuing such directions.
In the end, the gavel fell decisively.
“The Director of Public Prosecutions has successfully made out its case,” the court held, ordering all properties forfeited to the State and condemning Daliso to pay costs.
The forfeited properties include several Toyota Land Cruisers, a Mitsubishi Pajero, and multiple parcels of land across the country, including in Chinkankata.
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