By 
Chief Resident Magistrate, Davies Chibwili, has described former Lusaka Province minister Bowman Lusambo’s so-called businesses as “bogus fronts” used to conceal illegitimate earnings, before sentencing him to three years imprisonment.
Magistrate Chibwili said investigations revealed that Lusambo’s purported ventures had no proper records and had never paid taxes to the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA).
“Public service is not a place to join and become rich in a very short time. Salaries and allowances are well known. For one to suddenly flaunt expensive assets while claiming to run businesses that pay no tax is clear evidence of foul play,” Magistrate Chibwili said.
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He noted that while Lusambo had made an admirable statement in his defence—urging public servants not to dip their fingers into national coffers—his own conduct told a different story.
“The convict’s so-called businesses were bogus and mere fronts to hide illegitimate earnings. Leaders must fear to live above their known legitimate means. Impunity of this nature cannot go unchecked,” he ruled.
In a stinging rebuke, the magistrate added: “The impunity with which these offences were committed is another thing. No effort was made to hide what they were doing and they openly disclosed their ill-gotten assets publicly and on social media.
That is why those convicted of these offences must be treated in such a way that those holding, or who will hold, leadership positions in poor countries like ours learn from the convicted.”
Lusambo was convicted on two counts of possessing properties reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime, namely a lavish Chamba Valley mansion and six unfinished flats.
The sentences will run concurrently, effective August 25, 2025.
This marks his second conviction in less than a year.
He is already serving a separate three-year jail term with hard labour for corruption, imposed by Magistrate Faides Hamaundu in November last year at Mwembeshi Maximum Prison.
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