LUSAKA – Miriam Mwanawasa has claimed her mother-in-law Maureen changed the late President Levy Mwanawasa’s will.
But Maureen says Facebook isn’t solving people’s problems.
Miriam is Mwanawasa’s daughter while Maureen is his widow.
On Tuesday, the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) announced Maureen’s suspension from practicing law.
LAZ also shut down her late husband’s law firm, Levy Mwanawasa & Co, describing it as a one-person firm.
“Note that the attorney above has been suspended from practicing law, effective immediately.
“By this notice, said practitioner shall not appear before any court/tribunal and shall not, until further notice, initiate any legal proceedings of any kind by the undersigned,” reads the letter from LAZ dated of October 22, 2021.
“As the company under the name and style of (Mr. Levy Mwanawasa & Co.) is a sole proprietorship, it is further ordered that the said company be closed with immediate effect.”
The letter was also copied to Acting Chief Justice Michael Musonda, among others.
In response, Miriam expressed concern for the safety of the other family estates.
“Based on this information, I hope that TEKA Farm, formerly owned and co-owned by my late grandmother Miriam Mokola and my late father, will be incorporated by my late father after my grandmother’s death and before his death from the TEKA farm in MIPACHIMA – The farm has been renamed,” she wrote.
“And when he died, my late father’s will was fraudulently altered to such an extent that my late father’s properties were not properly divided because the will itself was questionable, which also prevented my other sister, Lorna, to do so to take advantage of any property.”
She accused Maureen of not handing over the title deeds to the family property.
Miriam also claimed that she only received K15,000 from her father’s estate.
“Until now, our said mother has never given us the title deeds. She enjoyed being the executor of our late father’s estate and presiding over everything,” Miriam continued.
“I only received K15,000 from my late father’s benefits, which was not enough to solve my problems. As we speak, the government is building a house for the late President Mwanawasa, and currently the caretakers and people residing in the same government-funded house are members of his family. His brother and his wife and his sister and her husband.”
Miriam further expressed concern over the closure of the law firm, adding that she never benefited from her father’s estate.
“My question is if the court allows our farmland to go like this, where will I go because I am currently living on my grandmother’s farm and I will not accept being evicted because of my mother-in-law’s debt,” she said.
“Money that did not benefit me or my children. On the contrary, my children finally stopped going to school, but I thank God for his intervention.
“I don’t have the funds to fight this case but I am praying that the courts in ZAMBIA will look into this case and guide us on the way forward and if possible we can also relieve my mother in law of the case. stewardship of the family estate everyone is treated fairly, but a lot of things have gone wrong that way.
Miriam has sworn never to accept injustice in this case.
“She is currently [sic] on a salary from the government and I don’t understand how she couldn’t pay her debts because all the money she receives only benefits her,” Miriam said.
“I am compelled to comment because I will not accept that the injustice continues. And I pray for God’s intervention in this matter in the name of Jesus Christ.
And when asked if she had indeed changed the will, Maureen replied: “I don’t respond to things like that. If someone is unhappy about something, there are laws that protect those people, yes .
When further asked if Miriam had in fact only received 15,000K as she claimed, Maureen stated that she was not the lead administrator.
“Yes, but there is an executor. He is still alive. It is therefore he who can explain if he wants to speak to the press. I’m not the chief admin of the domain,” Maureen explained.
“And like I said, if somebody’s unhappy, you don’t go to Facebook. They go to institutions that protect those who feel disadvantaged. That’s what you do Facebook doesn’t solve problems belongs to nobody.
Asked if she now advises Miriam to go to the proper authorities, Maureen replied: “It’s not my job to advise. I’m just answering you. Why should I advise? This is a page Facebook…I’m not on Facebook myself. I don’t respond to things from the media,” Maureen said.
“I’m just telling you that every person who is wronged, this country is ruled by law. If it’s a family affair, the family has people. So it’s not Facebook, yeah.”
