By Agness Changala-Katongo
The UPND has told the Constitutional Court that it has no jurisdiction to hear the petition where an advocate of the High Court is seeking an order to direct the Registrar of Societies to deregister all political parties that have not held party elections since 2016.
The party through its Secretary General Stephen Katuka, has submitted that the petition is wrongly before the Constitutional Court for lack of jurisdiction and is supposed to be taken before the High Court.
In this petition, Benjamin Mwelwa, a Livingstone based magistrate has petitioned the Constitutional Court asking it to order the deregistration of political parties that have not held party elections since 2016, as required by the amended Constitution.
Magistrate Mwelwa is seeking a declaration that any political party which was registered and in existence as of January 5, 2016 and which has not promoted and practised democracy through regular, free and fair elections, within its political party, has breached article 60(2)(d) of the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act no. 2 of 2016 and therefore, such a political party ceased to exist as a political party in Zambia on January 4, 2017.
Mwelwa has since cited Attorney General Likando Kalaluka and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) as the respondents in the petition.
Last week, the Constitutional Court joined UPND as an interested party to the petition, stating that the party had sufficient interest to join the case while the Patriotic Front has also asked to be joined as an interested part.
The UPND through its Secretary General Stephen Katuka has now asked the court to dismiss the petition for want of jurisdiction, because it does not disclose any violation of the Constitution.
In an affidavit to struck out the petition and dismiss the matter, Katuka submitted that Mwelwa’s petition did not meet the requirements for the matter that should be brought before the Constitutional Court.
“Upon perusal of the petition and affidavit verifying facts and taking advice from my advocates, it has become apparent to me that they do not meet the requirement for actions that ought to be brought before this court,” Katuka submitted.
He argued that the petition was founded on an act of Parliament.
Katuka also stated that the petition was therefore, wrongly before the Constitutional Court for lack of jurisdiction and was supposed to be taken before the High Court.
He stated that neither the petition nor the affidavit verifying facts disclosed any alleged the Constitutional Court to exercise its jurisdiction must indicate the violations of the Constitution that are alleged to have been committed and how they were committed or the provisions that require interpretation.
He stated that failure to that, there is no way the court can be moved to pronounce remedies in favor of such a party.
“A perusal of the petition reveals that that the petitioner alleges that the respondents and all political parties have contravened the Constitution by breaching Section 18 of the Constitution of Zambia Act no. of 2016. “Clearly the petitioner requires the honorable court to interpret an Act of Parliament, the interpretation which falls outside the jurisdiction of this court. The matter which the petitioner seeks interpretation can only be determined by the High Court,” submitted Katuka.
The hearing for the application to dismiss it has been set for June 15.