No Possibility Of Kwacha, Kafubu By Elections – Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha

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Lusambo and Joseph MALANJI

NO POSSIBILITY OF KWACHA, KAFUBU BY ELECTIONS – AG

Attorney General MULILO KABESHA has ruled out the possibility of by-elections in KABUSHI and KWACHA constituencies following the recent Constitutional Court’s majority Judgement that the nullification of election results does not entail disqualification of the person whose seat was nullified.

Mr. KABESHA says the Judgement has been overtaken by events as the by-elections in the two Constituencies already took place in October last year.

The Attorney General has stated that the Petition of BOWMAN LUSAMBO Of KABUSHI Constituency and JOSEPH MALANJI of Kwacha constituency against the said elections was already dismissed by the High Court and now awaits the judgment of the Constitutional Court on appeal.

He says the by-elections took place on the strength of article 52 sub-articles four of the Constitution that required Mr. LUSAMBO and Mr. MALANJI of the PF to conclude their petitions to recontest within 21 days.

Mr. KABESHA says the requirements to conclude the petition in the High Court within 21 days as stipulated by 52 sub-article four was affirmed in the Case of BERNARD KANENGO versus the Attorney General and Electoral Commission of Zambia.

He says Mr. KANENGO of the UPND who is the incumbent KABUSHI Member of Parliament consolidated his case by referring to the precedence of HAKAINDE HICHILEMA verses the Attorney of 2016 where the Presidential Petition could not be stretched beyond 14 days.

He adds that the comprehensive majority and minority judgments delivered by the Constitutional Court on March,10,2023 are not a new version of the abridged judgments of September 7,2022 on Mr. LUSAMBO and Mr. MALANJI’s case.

This is according to a statement released in LUSAKA by the Attorney’s Office.

This is in a matter where Mr. LUSAMBO and Mr. MALANJI challenged the decision of the Electoral Commission of Zambia to reject their nomination papers for the October 2022-KABUSHI and KWACHA parliament by-elections.

The majority Judgement underlined that those whose election results have been nullified as was the case with Mr.LUSAMBO and Mr.MALANJI cannot be disqualified from re-contesting an election on the basis of article 72 sub-article four of the Constitution.

The majority Judgement was delivered by Judges PALAN MULONDA,MUGENI MULENGA,MATHEW CHISUNKA and JUDY MULONGOTI.

On the other hand in the dissent judgement Deputy President Constitutional Court President MARGARET MUNALULA has held that individuals whose election results have been nullified cannot recontest the by-elections.

Judge MUNALULA held that the case of Law Association of ZAMBIA verse Attorney General that states that nullification is not disqualification does not under undermine article 72 sub-article four of the Constitution.

She stated that her interpretation of article 72 sub-article two and article 72 sub-article four is that an individual who causes a vacancy in the National Assembly is not eligible to recontest the bye-elections.

CREDIT: ZNBC

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