In a Statement of Claim filed in the Lusaka High Court on 9th July, 2025, the Station through Messrs ZS Legal Practitioners, says the property in question was acquired in 2012 after the loan disbursement which was in 2008.

“The Plaintiff is and was at all material times a company incorporated in Zambia and trading as Komboni Radio, operating its business at Stand No. 579 of 4807, New Kamwala, Lusaka (the “Property”). The Defendant is and was at all material times a Commission established under the Citizens Economic Empowerment Act No. 9 of 2006, primarily to promote the empowerment of Zambian citizens. Sometime in August 2012, the Defendant as Applicant in an action commenced in the High Court for Zambia under Cause No. 2012/HPC/0149, obtained a judgment relating to Stand No. 35913, Presidential Housing Initiative (PHI), Lusaka. The Plaintiff will aver that it was neither a party to that action nor was the Property that houses the Plaintiff’s business the subject thereof,” read part of the Statement of Claim.

“On or around 20th November 2024, and on the strength of the judgment obtained under Cause No. 2012/HPC/0149, the Defendant proceeded to issue a writ of possession in relation to Stand No. 35913, PHI, Lusaka. On 23rd May 2025, without any justification or excuse, the Defendant caused the execution of the writ of possession on the Plaintiff and its property on Stand No. 579 of 4807, New Kamwala, Lusaka. The Plaintiff will aver that the Defendant’s employees and agents from the Sheriff, on the strength of the writ of possession entered the Plaintiff’s premises to enforce the said writ of possession without the licence or consent of the Plaintiff.”

According to the ZS Legal Practitioners, the Plaintiff will aver that the Defendant was a trespasser on the premises of the Plaintiff as well as the Plaintiff’s goods/property used to run its business.

“As a result of the said actions, the Plaintiff has, as the Defendant knew and intended, been put to substantial loss, expenses by way of legal costs in engaging lawyers, and has suffered loss of business, custom, goodwill, interruptions and disruptions in its trade and business. The Plaintiff will aver that the execution of the writ of possession by the Defendant, was done in bad faith, maliciously and with the ulterior motive of damaging the Plaintiff’s business rather than furthering any legitimate interest for the Defendant, and without any reasonable excuse,” the law firm has submitted.

“Although the Defendant had a judgment and took out a writ of possession for Stand No. 35913, PHI, Lusaka, the execution was levied on Stand No. 579 of 4807, New Kamwala, Lusaka where the Plaintiff is housed; the Plaintiff was never a party to the proceedings that gave rise to the judgment and writ of possession under Cause No. 2012/HPC/0149; the Property subject of Cause No. 2012/HPC/0149 (Stand No. 35913) is situated in PHI Lusaka while Stand No. 579 of 4807 Lusaka, on which the writ of execution was levied is situated in New Kamwala, Lusaka;
even assuming Stand No. 579 of 4807, New Kamwala, Lusaka was the Property subject of the action under Cause No. 2012/HPC/0149 (which it was not), no notice was given to the Plaintiff by the Defendant regarding the proceedings relating to the Property; and
the Defendant’s employees were on the Plaintiff’s premises during the execution of the writ of possession.”

The law firm said by entering on the Plaintiff’s premises, the Defendant caused the Plaintiff to suffer loss and damage.

Meanwhile, CEEC in a letter of demand claimed that during the said process, Komboni Radio management made a false alarm report to the Police Special Unit of the Anti-Robbery Squad (popularly known as “C-Five”), alleging that robbers had raided the premises.

The Commission said as a result, armed police officers arrived at the scene and subjected officials to undue harassment, including pointing firearms at them.

“It took the intervention of the Bailiff to explain that the activity underway was a lawful execution and not a criminal act, before the police withdrew. This incident caused significant trauma and mental distress to our client’s employees, who were merely carrying out their duties. In addition, our client’s motor vehicle and employees were filmed and recorded during the course of this attempted execution, and the footage was widely disseminated on various social media platforms without their consent which act is against the law. These
actions not only violated their right to privacy but also exposed them to public ridicule and further psychological harm,” said CEEC.

“The reputational damage suffered by our client, who was lawfully attempting to recover a debt owed for the purpose of supporting other citizens has been substantial. In light of the above, our client strongly disputes your client’s claim of Five Million Kwacha (ZMW 5,000,000.00), particularly as the execution was never completed but merely attempted. On the contrary, our client is pursuing a counterclaim in the sum of Ten Million Kwacha (ZMW 10,000,000.00) for trauma, mental anguish suffered by its employees, and reputational harm.”

Speaking in an interview upon receipt of the CEEC demand letter on Friday 4th July, 2025, Komboni Radio Proprietor Lesa Kasoma said she had hopped that CEEC will issue an apology in an attempt to settle the matter amicably.

“It has come with great shock and disappoinment in the unprofessional manner in which the CEEC demand letter has been written and how they have resorted to deal with the matter at hand. In all honest, I had expected CEEC to at least approach Komboni Radio with an apology in an attempt to settle the matter amicably instead of fabricating lies to justify their injustice. Does it even make sense that, in their letter of demand they allege that they were shown property in 2008 which was only acquired in 2012,” she stated.

“Need I remind CEEC, that it was established under Act No.9 primarily to promote the empowerment of Zambian Citizens and NOT destroy.  Clearly, Komboni Radio has nothing to do with CEEC and the matter under cause number  No. 2012/HPC/0149 is in court and I do not wish to comment so much on it. But rumors reaching me are that, the Commission is allegedly working to destroy anything that was built during the PF regime, and my prayer is that, it is not true as this will be very unfortunate especially that 2026 elections are just around the corner.”

At the same time, Komboni Radio Station Manager Oswald Tembo refuted claims that the police officers harassed the officials.

“No police officer harassed anyone who came to Komboni Radio. What happened was that I was out of the office when I received a call saying people had arrived with police and security officers. Thinking it might be a repeat of past incidents where people tried to shut down the radio station, I called the police for protection – regular officers, not from C5. When I arrived at the office, 5 police officers came to assess the situation. After the bailiffs representative showed them the court document, the officers left immediately without incident. I called the police solely for our protection, and they acted professionally,” he said.