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MWANAWASA HOUSE FOR SALE
By Isaac Mwanza
Last week, the nation woke up to a dramatic eviction of the former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa from the house government had been constructing for her and her children who were below the age of 21 when former President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa died.
The property was sold to the University of Lusaka (UNILUS), one of the most reputable universities in Zambia, by two money lenders Esther Chipasi and Osuman Mustapha who had lent Mrs Mwanawasa K1.2 million.
Many on social media claimed the house could not be sold as it was being built for the late former President Mwanawasa as part of his benefits. We find this not entirely true and want to dispel this from the beginning.
According to Section 4A (1) of the Benefits of the Former Presidents Act, a law that provides for benefits of a former President and his family, government is obliged to provide a furnished executive house to a former President who ceases to hold office.
Such an executive house is built or bought in Zambia by the State at a place of the former President’s choice.
However, Mwanawasa died in 2008 before government could provide him with such an executive house at his choice thereby triggering sub-section 2 of Section 4A of the Act.
Under subsection 2, government is compelled to provide a furnished house (not an executive house) to the widow and children below the age of 21 of a dead former President, in this case, Maureen and the children.
The house is built or bought by the State at a place of the surviving spouse’s choice. The widow, Maureen, and the children share joint tenancy, meaning upon death of any one of them, the title would pass to other survivors until the last one.
This house built under Section 4A(1) belongs to the estate of a former President while the house built under Section 4A(2) does not belong to the estate of a late former President but to the widow and her children below the age of 21.
In our case, the State had in 2012 assigned land in Chongwe, opposite UNILUS to Maureen Mwanawasa to be jointly owned with her named children, in accordance with Section 4A(2)(b) of the Act.
The property belonged to Maureen Mwanawasa and the children, namely, Chipokota Mayamba, who works at State House, Matolo Levy Mwanawasa, Ntembe Tylanda and Lubona Perise Chikulupanama.
However, statements appearing in the media sound as if Maureen traded in property which she had not right to trade in or that the property did not belong to her but to her late husband, Levy Patrick Mwanawasa. That’s incorrect.
According to the law we have cited here, the property being built by government is her property together with the children. Maureen and the named children could do as they pleased with the property or the house.
They could have subdivided it among themselves or sell part of it to anyone, including government if government had wanted it. They eventually would have walked away with the money as late former President Rupiah Bwezani Banda did.
Maureen is a senior lawyer. She would not have been and was not careless to trade in property for which she had no title or authority from the children with similar life interest in it.
After her unsuccessful bid for the mayoral position in 2016, word has it that Maureen had decided to engage in what appeared to be a low-risk and high-return business.
Even though aware what it is, the author will not discuss the type of business unless she decides to do so herself. Maureen desperately needed money to invest in that business.
In 2017, it is reported that Maureen went to borrow K1.2 million from the named money lenders and pledged the property as collateral on a buy-back basis.
A caveat was put on the title so that no one could have any further business dealings on the property which was subject to a loan. This is a matter of mortgage practice.
Maureen failed to settle the loan. The money lenders grabbed the house but had offered her to buy it back at a much higher price, which was beyond her means. This was a business transaction.
At the height of these financial pressures in May, 2018, Maureen resigned from the UPND and stepped out from politics to concentrate on managing her businesses.
The Daily Nation reported that on 6th July, 2018, her children, who also had life interest in the house, signed a consent letter to sale the Retirement House, giving Maureen permission to transact on the property.
Having failed to pay back the money and on the authority of all the joint owners of the house, the money lenders caused to be removed the caveat on the property between 7 and 10th February, 2023.
The property was sold to University of Lusaka Limited at a consideration amount of US$2.1 million and a certificate of Title No CT_144302 was then obtained.
In our laws, Section 33 of the Lands and Deeds Registry Act makes it clear that a Certificate of Title is conclusive evidence of ownership from the date of issue notwithstanding existence in any other person of any estate or interest except in the case of fraud.
From these facts, it is difficult to fault UNILUS for purchasing the property which belonged to Maureen and her children. UNILUS, in our view, is a bonafide purchaser for value without notice.
What we mean is that UNILUS is a good-faith buyer who could have paid the U$2 million for a property from the money lender without knowledge of existing prior claims or equitable interests.
UNILUS could not have bought the property if they knew Maureen and her children had no ownership which they decided to give up to the seller.
UNILUS could have made the business decision, aware that all children who needed to give consent had given their consent to Maureen to sale the property. UNILUS had interest in the property because of its proximity to their Chongwe learning campus.
UNILUS must decide what next for them, irrespective of the moral judgment the public can make.
At the same time, we as members of the public should stop portraying as if Maureen acted criminally or wanted to make unjust enrichment by trading in property in whom she had no right to trade in. That’s not true.
Maureen must be going through a very difficult phase in life and could have made wrong decisions, which we all do.
Maureen needs our sympathy, a listening ear from friends, and assistance from government on how best to navigate the situation she has found herself in, no matter how embarrassing it could be.
More than ever before, Maureen needs her children who knew what happened to stand with her, defend her action and remove the tag that she acted without authority from the State when the property was theirs and on title, irrespective of fact that government was still constructing the house.
We call on President Hakainde Hichilema to assist the former first lady by sending her into diplomatic service. In that way, she can cope up with current situation and focus on something more
away from public criticisms which may have effect on her health.
[Published by the Zambia Daily Nation, April 2023]
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