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The Economic and Financial Crimes Division of the High Court has, for the second time, dismissed an attempt by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to seize former Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo’s three houses in Silverest Gardens, ruling that the properties are already subject to a valid forfeiture order issued by a lower court.
A panel of three judges—Justices Susan Wanjelani, Anna Malata-Ononuju, and Ian Mabbolobbolo—delivered the ruling on May 27, 2025, stating that the matter had already been adjudicated and is now pending the outcome of Lusambo’s appeal.
Justice Malata-Ononuju, delivering the decision, emphasized that pursuing fresh non-conviction-based forfeiture proceedings while a conviction-based forfeiture order remains in force constitutes an abuse of court process.
Lusambo, in his affidavit, argued that the Silverest Gardens properties had already been forfeited to the State following his conviction in the Subordinate Court under cause number 2SPE/024/2022 on January 27, 2025.
He noted that although he has appealed the conviction, the forfeiture order remains valid until overturned.
He also argued that his wife, Nancy Manase—listed as the second interested party—had been acquitted in the same case and should not have been cited again in fresh proceedings.
In response, the State contended it was within its rights to seek a non-conviction-based forfeiture under the Forfeiture of Proceeds of Crime Act (FPOCA), regardless of the ongoing appeal.
However, the court found that the ACC’s new application amounted to forum shopping, in which the applicant seeks a more favourable ruling from a different court while a valid judgment from a competent court remains in effect.
The judges held that the State could only pursue forfeiture through the High Court if Lusambo’s appeal succeeds and the original forfeiture order is overturned.
“The applicant cannot pursue a non-conviction based forfeiture application for properties already vested in the State through a valid conviction-based order,” the court ruled.
In a separate development, the court ruled in favour of the ACC regarding two Chamba Valley properties—plot numbers F/609/E/44/B/9 and F/609/E/50—permitting the commission to proceed with forfeiture proceedings in the High Court, as those properties were not subject to any prior forfeiture order.
The court, therefore, partially granted the summons filed by Lusambo and Manase, striking off the Silverest Gardens houses from the ACC’s application but allowing the case relating to the Chamba Valley properties to proceed.
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