‘ICON ZAMBIA’ SOURS
…..reality TV winner sues producer over missing double-storey house and K1m record deal
By DAVID KANDUZA
THE fairytale victory of Icon Zambia 2024 Season One winner Emmanuel Muleba has taken a bitter legal turn, with the reality star hauling film producer David Kazadi to the Lusaka High Court over an alleged failure to deliver a promised luxury house and a K1 million music recording contract.
According to court documents, made available today October 20, 2026, Mr Muleba’s hard-won grand prize package was supposed to secure his lifetime financial and artistic future.
The spectacular bounty featured a fully furnished double-storey house, a K1 million recording contract, a sleek Mercedes-Benz GLA 200, comprehensive medical insurance, a year’s worth of Shoprite grocery vouchers and K100,000 in hard cash.
Mr Muleba’s statement of claim reveals the immense personal gamble he took to chase his musical dreams.
In August 2024, he took the leap of faith and resigned from his steady job in Kitwe to fully commit to the competition.
The ultimate payoff came on October 24, 2024, during a glittering, high-energy grand finale hosted at Lusaka’s East Park Mall, where he was crowned the ultimate winner.
While, Mr Kazadi and his production company, Kazadi Film Limited, successfully delivered the Mercedes-Benz, cleared the medical insurance, handed over the cash and provided the grocery vouchers, the most substantial anchors of the prize—the permanent home and the music deal—allegedly vanished into thin air.
The reality of the situation came crashing down in slow motion.
Following his victory, Mr Muleba was moved into Flat 13 at Buckley Apartments in Linda, Lusaka. For over a year, he lived there under the impression that the keys to the property were his to keep.
However, the illusion shattered in January 2026 when Mr Kazadi allegedly informed the artist that he had been personally bankrolling the apartment’s rent out of pocket.
Not long after, Mr Muleba was told he needed to pack up and find alternative accommodation.
To dodge outright destitution and stay afloat amid mounting financial strain, the singer was forced to downgrade.
On August 6, 2026, Mr Muleba moved out of Buckley Apartments and into a significantly smaller house in Lusaka’s Kabanana Township to manage his daily living costs.
Left with an incomplete prize package and stalled career momentum, Mr Muleba was now fighting back through the justice system.
He was seeking a formal court order compelling Kazadi Film Limited and its director, David Kazadi, to immediately deliver the promised house and the K1 million recording contract.
Alternatively, he was demanding substantial damages for breach of contract and the loss of lucrative professional opportunities during his prime winning window.
The court were yet to set a date for the hearing, and Mr Kazadi was expected to file his defense.- alendo