THE Lusaka High Court has allowed former Chawama Member of Parliament Tasila Lungu-Mwansa to challenge the legality of the process which led to the declaration of the Chawama seat vacant by the Speaker.
On November 28, 2025, the Chawama parliamentary seat was officially declared vacant after Speaker of the National Assembly, Nelly Mutti, ruled that Ms Lungu had failed to attend parliamentary sessions for months on end, beginning in June.
Ms Lungu has been outside Zambia since the death of her father, former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, who passed away on June 5.
Her prolonged absence from Parliament attracted a point of order from a lawmaker, who asked whether she was in order not to attend parliamentary sittings for several months.
Ms Mutti ruled that Ms Lungu was out of order and later declared her seat vacant, triggering a by-election.
Unhappy with the decision, Ms Lungu went to the High Court to seek judicial review regarding the manner in which the Speaker arrived at her decision.
In the application for leave to seek judicial review, she submitted that she seeks to challenge the Speaker’s decision, contained in her ruling dated Friday, November 28, 2025, to invoke the provisions of Article 72(8) of the Constitution on allegations that she had breached the prescribed code of conduct by failing to attend parliamentary sittings.
Ms Lungu argues that this decision was illegal and unreasonable, hence the need for judicial review, a process which allows the Judiciary to ensure that the exercise of powers by other arms of government is not abused.
She wants the court to decide whether the decision-making process was illegal and unreasonable according to the dictates of judicial review, in line with the Standing Orders (2024) of Parliament on parliamentary privileges and absences.
In her ruling, Judge Newa granted Ms Lungu’s application for judicial review but denied her plea to halt the execution of the Speaker’s decision to declare the seat vacant.
“Tasila Lungu has demonstrated that there is a case that is fit for further investigation. I accordingly grant leave to Tasila Lungu to commence judicial review proceedings,” the judge said.
The judge, however, noted that the by-election for Chawama Constituency had already taken place, and that the application to stay execution of the Speaker’s decision had been overtaken by events and was consequently not granted.
(Mwebantu, Friday, 27th March, 2026)
Where was this Honorable Court when it was required to Make Judgement within Time?
We don’t want Academic Exercises in our Court rooms. Such are for Mock Courts or Lecture Auditoriums at Universities.