EDITOR’S CHOICE- JUDGE CONCEPTOR CHINYANUWA ZULU: A BETRAYAL OF JUDICIAL ETHICS AND PUBLIC TRUST
By Prof. Proud Moonga, PhD, Lecturer, University of Michigan, USA
In recent weeks, I have written extensively about the growing crisis within Zambia’s judiciary. I have specifically raised concerns about the conduct and integrity of Chief Justice Mumba Malila, who continues to portray Zambia abroad as a thriving democracy while overseeing an alarming erosion of judicial independence at home. The contradiction is not only disturbing, it is dangerous.
Now, Judge Conceptor Chinyanuwa Zulu has become another troubling figure in this pattern of judicial failure. In the matter involving the Patriotic Front (PF), both parties reportedly agreed to a consent judgment since April 2025, a perfectly legitimate and routine legal resolution. Yet, Judge Zulu has thus far refused to endorse it. What is she waiting for? Who is she waiting for? Why ignore a settlement mutually agreed upon by the parties involved?
This isn’t the first time we have seen this kind of behavior. Judge Chocho, too, once granted a stay after a questionable PF conference, only to reverse it two days later. That decision paved the way for Miles Sampa to act unilaterally, in what many believe was a politically engineered operation. The judiciary’s inconsistency in these matters only serves to deepen public distrust, and it raises a serious concern: Is the bench still independent, or is it merely an extension of the executive?
Let me make one thing clear: I am neither PF nor UPND. I speak not as a partisan, but as a Zambian deeply alarmed by the dangerous direction in which our democracy is heading.
Zambia’s hard-earned multiparty democracy is under attack not from outside forces, but from within. For the first time since the reintroduction of multiparty politics in 1991, we are witnessing a ruling party that appears committed to dismantling the largest opposition party in Parliament, with judicial aid and legislative silence. This is not just undemocratic, it is unprecedented.
A vibrant opposition is not a nuisance in democracy, it is its lifeblood. In any true multiparty system, the opposition exists to hold the government accountable, to represent alternative voices, and to offer citizens a meaningful choice in governance. When the opposition is weakened, co-opted, or destroyed, democracy itself is suffocated. The line between government and opposition becomes blurred, and with it, the accountability and transparency that are the foundation of democratic life.
Look at our Parliament today. Many PF MPs, particularly those aligned with Robert Chabinga, now sing in harmony with the ruling party. The current Leader of the Opposition, who should serve as the nation’s democratic watchdog, appears instead to act as an informal government spokesperson. This collapse of opposition function strikes at the heart of democratic principles and betrays the very citizens who voted for balance, not a monologue
More worrying is that this dismantling of democracy is being aided by the very institution tasked with upholding the Constitution, the Judiciary. Instead of acting as a check on executive overreach, it is behaving like an accomplice. In a healthy democracy, the judiciary defends the rule of law without fear or favor. In Zambia today, we must ask: who is the judiciary really serving?
We cannot afford to be silent. When the judiciary begins to tilt toward executive interests, when opposition voices are suppressed, and when the democratic process is manipulated for political expediency, every citizen loses. Today it may be the PF. Tomorrow it could be any other group that dares to challenge those in power. That is why this is not a partisan fight, it is a fight for the survival of our democracy.
Zambians must now decide whether we are willing to watch our democratic institutions be hollowed out from the inside, or whether we will stand up to defend the values that have long set us apart in the region: pluralism, constitutionalism, and the rule of law.
If we fail to act now, Zambia may soon become a democracy in name only, a state where elections still happen, but choice, freedom, and justice are illusions.
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You have not explained how UPND stopped PF from holding a convention. There is absolutely no evidence of a motive for UPND to interfere in the internal affairs of another political party. There can be not effective solution if you do not place responsibility where it belongs. This blind speculation without providing evidence serves the purposes of those who by their greed and selfishness destroyed PF.
What has destroyed PF is greed. And lack of respect for the law. Even the laws and guidelines contained in their own party constitution.
And there is no reason to believe that another political party will rise and take up the role of a credible opposition party. PF are done and dusted. Deal with it. Zambia moves on to better days.
With people like you,Zambia is doomed.
This is where Prof Ndulo should come in,not Hamunkoyo LLBiod!!
Yes.How can a PHD holder fail to see that what is happening today is exactly what democracy is.Mr.Professor,it’s very possible that an entire opposition can be utterly defeated at the pools and a one party democracy emerge.In South Africa,the ANC ruled in a one party democracy from 1994 until it was forced to share power only after the 2024 elections.ANC was soundly beating the opposition yet SA still remained a vibrant democracy
It also possible that an entire membership of a party can go to jail for criminal liability.That will still be separation of power in a democracy.Courts are not obligated to keep the numbers in political parties so that democracy can thrive
Excellent article Moonga. You are a true patriot. God bless you young man. You give us hope at levels that can not be described because of these draconian cyber laws that corrupt dictator failure Hakainde has introduced to suppress non birthright citizens.
REJECT TRIBALISM, CORRUPTION AND OPPRESSION.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
Chief Justice he may be but Mumba Malila has no power to discipline judges. If a judge misconducts himself or herself, the body that enforces discipline against them is the Judicial Complaints Commission. If the learned professor who has authored this article does not know that, he has no business to expect readers to take him seriously. Judges are not supervised like students writing a graduate academic paper.