By CHARLES MUSONDA
I BUILT my property using money that former Zambia Air Force (ZAF) commander Lieutenant General David Muma and others paid me for the pieces of land I sold them, businessman James Chungu has testified.
This is in a case Chungu, 56, and another former ZAF commander Eric Chimese have been put on their defence for alleged money laundering involving a single storey residential house and nine apartments located on the remaining extent of farm 2303/Q in Lusaka’s Ibex Hill area.
Opening his defence yesterday, Chungu told Lusaka Magistrate Nsunge Chanda that sometime in 2009 and 2010 he expressed interest to buy farm number 2303/Q on behalf of his company Chita Lodge Limited from its original owner Godfrey Mulundika; and managed to buy the land in question at US$40,000 after getting a loan from Zanaco.
He said he later subdivided the land in parcels where he sold part of it to Lt-Gen. Muma and his company 360 Degrees, and other individuals.
Chungu said he later retained the remainder of the land and that during trial a State witness Rachael Tembo from the Ministry of Lands produced a lands register confirming that Chita Lodge Limited was a bona fide owner of the property.
He said Ms. Tembo described ownership of the property in all other transactions that had been officially passed at the ministry.
He said he has been in business for a long time and that he built the property using loans and sales from his hospitality business
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