*Contact* : UPND Chair, Policy and Research, Joseph Lungu
0967851083

*HH Is Ready to Assume the Functions and* *Responsibilities of President*

I wish to assure all my fellow Zambian citizens that UPND President, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, widely known as HH, is ready and adequately prepared to shoulder the functions and responsibilities of the Republican president prescribed in the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2016 and in subsidiary pieces of legislation.

First and foremost, President Hichilema, in exercise of the executive authority of the State, will adhere to the following provisions excerpted and adapted from Clause 3 of Article 91 of the current Constitution of Zambia:

(a) Respect, uphold and safeguard our country’s Constitution;

(b) Safeguard the sovereignty of the Republic of Zambia;

(c) Promote democracy and enhance the unity of the Nation;

(d) Respect the diversity of the different communities of our country, as well as consider the appointment of citizens from a diversity of ethnic, gender and racial segments of Zambian society;

(e) Promote and protect the rights and freedoms of all citizens and of all visitors to our Motherland; and

(f) Uphold the rule of law, as well as promote the existence of non-discriminatory laws, and push for law enforcement organs of the government that are efficient, impartial, independent, and legitimate.

In addition to upholding the rule of law, President Hichilema is also abundantly aware of the need to put into practice all the other elements of good governance, which include the following:

(a) Accountability—that is, availability of a mechanism for ensuring that public officials are directly and fully liable for the outcomes of their decisions and actions, and the appropriation of resources assigned to them;

(b) Transparency—that is, public access to information about the state, its decision-making mechanisms, and its current and contemplated projects and programmes—except for state secrets and matters relating to public officials’ right to privacy;

(c) Citizen participation—that is, availability of channels and mechanisms through which the citizenry and non-governmental institutions can have an influence on governmental decision-making processes and the behaviour and actions of public officials both directly and through their representatives in Parliament; and

(d) A free press, whose functions in a democratic country like ours include serving as a watchdog to the three organs of the government, informing the public about issues which are of national interest, serving as a medium of communication that guarantees free and open debate and discussion among citizens, influencing public opinion through impartial and fair analysis of issues affecting the country and its people, serving the economic system through sponsored advertisements designed to bring buyers and sellers into contact with each other, and serving as a medium for entertaining the public.

Accordingly, President Hichilema will be guided by the foregoing principles and Constitutional provisos in tending to the other important functions and responsibilities stipulated in Article 91, Article 92, Article 96, and other Articles of the Constitution of Zambia with dignity, leadership and integrity.

These functions and responsibilities include the following:

(a) Preside over national affairs as the country’s Head of State and Government, and as Commander-in-Chief of the various units of the Defence Force;

(a) Appoint ambassadors, high commissioners, plenipotentiaries, diplomatic representatives, and consuls;

(b) Receive and accredit foreign ambassadors, high commissioners, plenipotentiaries, diplomatic representatives, consuls, and heads of international organisations;

(c) Negotiate and sign international agreements and treaties and, subject to the approval of the National Assembly, ratify or accede to international agreements and treaties;

(d) Establish, merge and/or dissolve Government ministries, subject to the approval of the National Assembly;

(e) Confer honours upon deserving citizens and non-citizens residing within and outside Zambia;

(f) Initiate Bills for submission to, and consideration by, the National Assembly;

(g) Appoint the Secretary to the Cabinet, Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, Director of Public Prosecutions, Investigator-General, puisne judges, the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Industrial Relations Court, and the Auditor-General in consultation with relevant organs of government and subject to ratification by the National Assembly; and

(h) Appoint members of an Advisory Committee on the prerogative of mercy which shall advise him on actions and/or decisions to be taken in granting relief to any deserving person convicted of an offence by a court or court-martial.

Besides, we are all aware of the numerous socioeconomic issues and matters which President Hichilema’s administration will have to tackle after the elections scheduled to be held on August 12, 2021, including the creation for a more effective and efficient national government, providing for greater access to education and training, providing for merit-based scholarships for vocational training and university education, providing for low-interest educational loans, providing for an efficient and effective healthcare system, providing for greater and sustained food security, and creation of greater employment opportunities.

Other important issues and matters which the new administration is geared to address include public infrastructure, garbage collection and disposal, socioeconomic conditions in rural areas, electricity tariffs and interruptions in the supply of electricity, the scourge of corruption, the needs of street children and the handicapped, the preservation and protection of our country’s fragile natural environment, and implementation of projects and programmes initiated by President Edgar Lungu and the Patriotic Front in our country’s 10 provinces.

Needless to say, the Patriotic Front assumed the reins of power in September 2011, but the socioeconomic conditions facing the majority of citizens have continued to worsen during the 10 years the ruling political party has been in power. And, unfortunately, the gifts and donations in the form of cash, bicycles, automobiles, and mealie meal which President Lungu and the Patriotic Front are dishing out will not solve the prevailing socioeconomic problems facing the country and its people.

Voters who have the interest of our beloved country and its people at heart, therefore, will need to guard themselves against giving the Patriotic Front and Dr. Lungu another term of office later this year. There is really nothing meaningful which the party can do over the next 5 years that will address the backlog of unfulfilled promises.

*UPND MEDIA TEAM

Patriotic Front Intra-party Politics Get Dirty As Miles Desputes Allegations Levelled Against Him By Hon. Dr. Charles Banda.

…”I have never sold any council property as Lusaka Mayor,” Sampa writes Minister.

Lusaka – 16th April, 2021.

Dr. Charles Banda
The Hon. Minister
Local Government Ministry
LUSAKA

April 14th, 2021.

Dear Sir,

Re: Daily Nation Reported Sale of Buseko and Matero Hall.

I noted with surprise the Hon. Minister’s statement in the public media (Daily Nation) this morning on the above captioned.

As this matter is now in public domain and as the Hon Minister maybe aware that I am one of the applicants for adoption as Matero MP on the PF ticket, matters to do with the Constituency come direct in my persona and more so that I was the area MP from 2011 to 2016, I wish to dispel instantly the above misleading headlines today.

In my 3 years tenure as Mayor of Lusaka from 2018 and as I wind up in this year of the Lord of 2021, I have made it a point that no LCC asset is sold and if need be I have advocated and supported the lease or the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

In rare circumstances where a parcel of land has been sold (via public advertsement) for one reason or another like to pay off historical staff salary backlog, it has only been done after the Town Clerk that has powers to has written to the Ministry of Local Government to seek permision.

It has not been until a written authority signed by the PS Local Government has been received, that said mostly commercial plots have been sold and all handled by Management that have powers to as the Mayor position is ceremonial and not prevy to tender processes.

Above stated Hon. Minister, it is therefore not true that Buseko market and Matero Hall have been sold. It is just not possible to ever sell a Council property without the knowledge and approval of the Ministry of Local Government.

In addition, I have never Chaired any Full Council meeting that Approved the sale of the said 2 assets. The factual truth about Buseko market was that in a Council Housing Committee meeting dated 1st October, 2015 and chaired by then Matero Ward 24 Councillor Lee Mukupa and under Mayor Ken Nyendwa, a decision was made to attract investors to mordernise the market via a PPP.

When I became Mayor in 2018, we decided to write to the PPP Central Government Unit at the Ministry of Finance (MOF) seeking permission to proceed with the PPP.

Response was received and we were asked to undertake a Feasibility Study which we did some months later. We were again written to that we avail other technical details like number of marketeers and other details. We have since been on hold on the Buseko market issue until we get the formal Approval from the Central Government PPP unit at MOF.

As for Matero Hall, I only came to learn about it from the article in the Daily Nation today. Any discussion around it in a meeting I was present I would have dismissed the idea instantly more so for sentimental reasons as I used to watch free projector cinema from there when I was about 8 years old.

So I place on record that as Mayor, no LCC structure (Market, Bus Stop, Building etc) has ever been Sold.
Rent, Lease and PPP have been my approach more so that Council assets have to be preserved for future generations.

It is in this spirit that I wish to commend you Hon Minister for your blanket decision to advise LCC and other Councils that No assets should be sold as we conclude our term next 4 weeks.

Please be assured Sir that at LCC where I preside, No discussion of selling anything of Council will be entertained as has been the case since I assumed the Mayoral office. In any case, there is no further Full Council meeting that have the mandate to authorise same.

In our last Full Council meeting last week, I agreed with the Town Clerk and some Councillors that anything that had semblance of selling, said Item were Withdrawn or Defered i.e. Were Not Approved.

Hon. Minister, for my own reputation now and beyond, I took the liberty to formally write to your good office to place facts on record and more so that matter (conived by a known Adoption candidate for the Matero MP sear and keen to dent my massive Goodwill in the Constituency) is all over social media where apparently anything posted is deemed truthful and factual.

Suffice to underscore however that said captioned propagada on me in particular, was conived by a known Adoption candidate for the Matero MP seat and he is determined day and night to dent my massive Goodwill in both Matero Constituency and Lusaka City in general.

I submit for your information Sir and importantly to commend you for your vigilance on Council assets that we all should guard jealously for the benefit of Resident’s great grand children.

Sir, I respectfully submit and many thanks for your guidance to my office since you assumed the Local Government Minister office.

Best wishes & Yours in City Duties,

Miles Bwalya Sampa
Mayor of Lusaka

CC: Mr. Alex Mwansa: The Town Clerk
Deputy Mayor: Hon Christopher Shakafuswa

[By Edwin Mbulo in Mazabuka]

EVERY society has a lunatic, the likes of Cornelius Mweetwa is one, says Southern Province PF chairperson Lawrence Evans.

Mweetwa on Tuesday, after attending a habeas corpus hearing in Mazabuka over the detention of Ackson Sejani and three others, threatened to seek the Constitutional Court’s intervention blocking any PF member from filing in his or her nominations for the August Presidential and General Elections charging that the ruling party did not hold an elective convention

The hearing was also attended by Gary Nkombo, Lusaka Province UPND chairperson Obvious Mwaliteta and Stephen Katuka.

“We have witnessed with growing concern and the nation was treated to drama over what looked like a convention of the PF and ended up into a hoax because there were no elections held, there were no ballot papers,” he said. “The Republican Constitution requires that a political party holds an elective convention,” he said. “We are giving the PF 48 hours to reconvene a convention so that they fulfill requirements of the law failure to which we will take this matter to the Constitutional Court to block any PF member to file in nominations in an election.”

Mweetwa alleged that there was a rebellion in the PF among old members over the adoption of Charles Kakoma who recently joined the ruling party.

But reacting to Mweetwa, Evans said the PF was not under the UPND for it to adhere to Mweetwa’s conditions.

“In every society there is a lunatic, the likes of Cornelius Mweetwa is just a lunatic. The fact that we held a very successful general conference makes them…their (UPND) leader has never been democratic to afford to hold a general conference like we did. It is just malice aimed at tarnishing our names,” he said. “We, in the PF, have been always holding a general conference every fifth year. Mweetwa’s statement is based on his own personal points and it is baseless. He wants to use it to gain points for him to be readopted for the Choma Central parliamentary seat,” said Evans. “For him to say he is giving us 24 hours does not help because we are not under the UPND. Our leader as PF, President Edgar Lungu, has powers to choose who he wants to work with in the national central committee, Mweetwa ni chipuba chamuntu chabe (Mweetwa is just a fool).”

‘ROMEO MUST STAY IN PARLIAMENT’ – MATIBINI

Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Patrick Matibini has ruled that Sesheke Member of Parliament, Romeo Kang’ombe is not imprisoned and therefore legally remains in the house.

He says Kang’ombe – “although convicted and sentenced, (albeit the sentence has been suspended), is not serving a term of imprisonment” and therefore, cannot be deemed “to have vacated his seat.”

Matibini was ruling on a Point of Order from Deputy Government Chief Whip, Tutwa Ngulube against Kang’ombe’s stay in the national assembly after the Chinsali Magistrates Court sentenced him to 12 months for assault.

The court suspended the sentence for two years on condition that Kang’ombe pays a K10, 000 and does not commit a similar offense during the term of his sentence.

“Therefore, he has not vacated his seat and remains the Member of Parliament for Sesheke Parliamentary Constituency, unless and until such a time that he violates the conditions attached to the suspension of his sentence and he begins to serve his imprisonment term. Mr R Kang’ombe, MP, is therefore in order to remain a Member of this August House,” Matibini stated.

Matibini clarifies that once a sentence has been suspended, it has been postponed and the convict is not confined to a prison, unless he violates any other condition set by the court.

Ngulube, the Member of Parliament for Kabwe Central, relied on a subsection of Article 70 of the Constitution which disqualifies a Member of Parliament who “is serving a sentence of imprisonment for an offence under a written law.”

However, Matibini states that imprisonment is an act of confining a person especially in prison and does not apply in the case of Kang’ombe.

RULING BY THE HON MR SPEAKER ON THE POINT OF ORDER RAISED BY HON T S NGULUBE, MP, DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR KABWE CENTRAL PARLIAMENTARY
CONSTITUENCY, ON THE STATUS OF MR R KANG’OMBE, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR SESHEKE PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY, FOLLOWING HIS CONVICTION FOR ASSAULT AND SENTENCE TO IMPRISONMENT BY THE CHINSALI MAGISTRATES’ COURT

Hon Members will recall that on Tuesday, 13th April, 2021, when
the House was considering the Report of the Committee on
Media, Information and Communication Technologies and Mr E Muchima, Member of Parliament for Ikeleng’i Parliamentary Constituency was on the Floor, Hon T S Ngulube, Deputy Government Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Kabwe Central Parliamentary Constituency raised a Point of Order against Mr R Kang’ombe, Member of Parliament for Sesheke Parliamentary Constituency.

The relevant excerpt of the Point of
Order is as follows:

“Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to raise this very important Constitutional point of order. I apologise most sincerely to my elder brother, the Hon Member for Ikeleng’i, for disturbing his line of thought.”

“Mr Speaker, yesterday, 12th April, 2021, apart from being my
birthday, the nation was treated to a rude shock by hearing
that one of us in this Chamber, the Hon Member for Sesheke, Mr Romeo Kang’ombe, was convicted by the Chinsali Magistrates’ Court and slapped with a two-year jail sentence, which was suspended for two years. We are also informed that he was also fined K10,000, which he paid.”

“Mr Speaker, my point of order is based on the provisions of
Article 70(2)(f) of the Constitution of Zambia. In my
understanding, when a person is convicted by a court of law, he becomes a convict and, as such, is disqualified from being an Hon Member of Parliament.”

“Therefore, is the Hon Member of Parliament for Sesheke, Mr Romeo Kangombe, in order to remain a Member of this August House after being convicted by the honourable court in Chinsali?”

“Sir, I seek your serious ruling on this matter.”

In my immediate response, I reserved my ruling to enable me
render a measured response. I have since studied the matter and now render my ruling.

Hon Members, the background to the Point of Order is that on
Wednesday, 7th April, 2021, Mr Romeo Kang’ombe, Member of
Parliament for Sesheke Parliamentary Constituency, was convicted by the Chinsali Magistrates’ Court for the assault of two police officers. On Monday 12th April, 2021, the Court sentenced him to twelve (12) months imprisonment with hard labour.

The Court, however, suspended the sentence for two (2) years on condition that Mr R Kang’ombe, MP, did not commit a similar
offence during that period.

Hon Members may wish to note that this Point of Order raises the issue of whether a Member of Parliament who is convicted of a criminal offence vacates his or her seat in the National Assembly by virtue of that conviction.

The law governing the vacation of a seat by a Member of
Parliament is encapsulated in Article 72(2) of the Constitution of Zambia, Chapter 1 of the Laws of Zambia, and is expressed in the following terms:
“72. (2) The office of Member of Parliament becomes vacant
if the member—

(a) resigns by notice, in writing, to the Speaker;

(b) becomes disqualified for election in accordance with
Article 70;

(c) acts contrary to a prescribed code of conduct;

(d) resigns from the political party which sponsored the
member for election to the National Assembly;

(e) is expelled from the political party which sponsored the
member for election to the National Assembly;
(f) ceases to be a citizen;
(g) having been elected to the National Assembly, as an
independent candidate, joins a political party;
(h) is disqualified as a result of a decision of the
ConstitutionalCourt; or
(i) dies.”

Of particular relevance to this case is Article 72 (2) (b) which is couched as follows:
“72 (2) (b) The office of Member of Parliament becomes
vacant if the member becomes disqualified for election in
accordance with Article 70.”
Consequently, Article 70 (2) (f) provides as follows:

“70 (2) (f) A person is disqualified from being elected as a
Member of Parliament if that person is serving a sentence of
imprisonment for an offence under a written law.”

The effect of the foregoing provisions, when read together, is thata Member of Parliament vacates or loses his or her seat when he or she is serving a sentence of imprisonment.

Hon Members, Bryan A Garner, Editor-in-Chief of the Black’s Law Dictionary, Ninth Edition, (USA, Thomson Reuters 2009) defines
imprisonment, at page 825, “Imprisonment_. 1.

The act of confining a person especially in prison. 2. The state of being confined.”

Hon Members, I have had occasion to pronounce myself on the vacation of a seat by a member who is serving a sentence of imprisonment.

This was in my Ruling on A Point of Order Raised by Hon J J Mwiimbu, Member of Parliament for Monze Central
Parliamentary Constituency, Alleging That The National Assembly Has Treated Members Of Parliament Facing Various Court Cases in a Discriminatory Manner (Daily Parliamentary Debate of Wednesday, 21st March, 2018 at pages t to 12).

The Point of Order was precipitated by a letter I wrote to the Electoral Commission of Zambia on 7th March, 2018, to inform it of the vacancy in the Chilanga Parliamentary Constituency seat.

This followed the conviction and imprisonment of the then Member of Parliament for Chilanga, Mr K A Mukata, in accordance with Article 72 (2) (b). In my ruling, I took time to apprise the House of how a member vacates his seat under Article 70 (2) (f) of the
Constitution.

The background to the Mukata Case is that on Wednesday, 28th
February, 2018, the High Court delivered a judgment in the
criminal matter between; The People v Mukata and another,
cause No. HP/180/2017.

In that judgment, the High Court found Hon K A Mukata, erstwhile Member of Parliament for Chilanga Parliamentary Constituency, guilty of murder contrary to section 200 of the Penal Code, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia, and convicted him accordingly. The Certificate of Death Sentence was issued on that same day.

In rendering the ruling, I stated, inter alia, at page 10, as follows:
“A certificate of sentence of death is sufficient evidence that
Mr Mukata is serving a prison sentence, and that necessarily
means that his seat fell vacant by operation of Article 70 (2)
(f) of the Constitution.”

Thus, Mr Mukata, MP, vacated his seat, because he had not only
been convicted, but was also serving a prison sentence.

Hon Members, I now turn to address the question raised in Hon T S Ngulube’s Point of Order, that is, whether a conviction per se, is sufficient to warrant a member to vacate or lose his or her seat.

From the law adumbrated above, it is crystal clear that for a
member to vacate his or her seat under Article 70 (2) (f), it is not
sufficient that he or she has been merely convicted of an offence.

There must be something more; that is, the member must not only be convicted and sentenced, but must also be serving a sentence
of imprisonment. In other words, he or she must be lodged in a
prison, or incarcerated as was the case in the Mukata case.

Hon Members, I would like to point out that the Point of Order
under consideration also raises a novel question.

Namely, whether a Member of Parliament whose sentence has beensuspended can be said to be serving a sentence of imprisonment as envisioned by Article 70 (2) (f).

To begin with, I will address
the meaning of the term “suspended sentence”. Bryan A Garner (2009), supra, defines suspended sentence, at page 1486, in the following terms:

“A sentence postponed so that the convicted criminal is not
required to serve time unless he or she commits another
crime or violates some other court imposed condition. A
suspended sentence, in effect is a form of probation – also
termed withheld sentence.”

The import of the foregoing is that once a sentence has been
suspended, the sentence has been postponed.

That is, put in abeyance or withheld. As such, the person sentenced is not required to serve the sentence of imprisonment unless he commits another crime or violates any other condition set by the court.

Hon Members, as earlier noted, Mr R Kang’ombe, MP, was
convicted for assault and sentenced to twelve (12) months imprisonment with hard labour.

The Court, however, suspended
the sentence for two (2) years on condition that he does not
commit a similar offence during that period.

Having regard to the law elucidated above, Mr R Kang’ombe, MP’s sentence of imprisonment has been postponed or put in abeyance for two (2) years on condition that he does not commit a similar offence in the two (2) year period.

The implication of this is that he will only serve the term of imprisonment, in the event that he breaches the condition imposed by the Court. If he does not breach the condition, then he will not serve any sentence of imprisonment.

In this regard, it follows that Mr R Kang’ombe, MP, is currently not serving a sentence of imprisonment as envisioned by Article 70(2) (f) of the Constitution.

Hon Members, in view of the foregoing, it is clear that Mr R
Kang’ombe, MP, although convicted and sentenced, (albeit the sentence has been suspended), is not serving a term of imprisonment.

Therefore, he has not vacated his seat and remains the Member of Parliament for Sesheke Parliamentary Constituency, unless and until such a time that he violates the conditions attached to the suspension of his sentence and he begins to serve his imprisonment term.

Mr R Kang’ombe, MP, is
therefore in order to remain a Member of this August House.

I THANK YOU.
_____________________
To be announced on: Friday, 16th April 2021
Copies to: The Clerk
Chief Hansard Editor

12 SENIOR UPND MEMBERS INCLUDING SERVING MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT TO JOIN PF-MWANZA
… as he says UPND members have realized that there is no leadership in the party and are tired of rallying behind a cult leader
Lusaka, 16th April 2021
(SmartEagles)

Patriotic Front (PF) Deputy Media Director Antonio Mwanza has disclosed that 12 senior UPND officials are expected to defect from the party and join the PF.
Speaking when he featured on the People’s Debate program on Pan African radio today, Mr. Mwanza said the 12 senior UPND members including serving Members of Parliament have resolved to join the ruling PF.

He explained that the party is expecting the 12 UPND members to join PF in the next coming few weeks adding that the party will embrace them in order to maximize votes for President Lungu.
The PF Deputy Media Director further added that the party is expecting more UPND members to defect to the ruling party before the August 12 General elections.

“They have already made up their minds and it’s just not those 12; there will be many people who will defect by the time we reach the August 12 2021 general elections,” Mr. Mwanza said.
Mr. Mwanza said that UPND members have realized that there is no leadership in their party and are tired of rallying behind a cult leader and tired of a political party that does not embrace national character.

“They are tired of ukulusa, they are tired of a political party that after 16 years they made an attempt to come up with a Manifesto but ended up with a JAMAICAN Manifesto; bana panga Manifesto yama Rasta,” he said.

Mr. Mwanza further explained that UPND members are tired of being in a party that is very bitter and always criticizes the PF even on good policies that are meant to bring development to the country.

Meanwhile, Mr Mwanza has dispelled assertions from the opposition and some members of the public that President Lungu single handedly selected members of the Central Committee at the just ended party General Conference where he went unopposed as the PF President.

He explained that the party Constitution does not allow the President to select members of the Central Committee adding that what the party had was an elective General Conference.
Mr. Mwanza explained that the PF Constitution is clear that when they are 54 applications without anyone to challenge them, then they automatically go unopposed.

The PF Deputy Media Director further clarified that there is nothing wrong with the appointment of Hon. Charles Kakoma as a member of the Central Committee.

Mr. Mwanza charged that Hon. Kakoma is an experienced politician who has served in Parliament for two terms and was a senior member of the opposition UPND hence is appointment as Member of the Central Committee is a plus to the PF.

THE ruling Patriotic Front (PF) is more likely to win the August 12 general elections because it is busy reconciling and mobilising members unlike the UPND which is scrambling for Government positions it has not yet formed, former UPND Mbabala Member of Parliament, Ephraim Belemu has said.

In an interview, Mr Belemu said it was clear that the opposition has lost ground as evidenced by prominent members ditching the party. He said the UPND leadership lacks focus and strategy to win elections. “UPND can’t win elections with the mentality leaders have. Look, they are busy fighting for positions in the government they have not yet formed, forgetting that there is a crucial election to win in August.

They simply lack focus and strategy to win an election,” Mr Belemu said. He added, “PF is likely to win because the leadership is mobilising and reconciling with old members. And you know, politics is about numbers.” He said he did not regret ditching the UPND for PF because the party was more organised and all-inclusive.

Mr Belemu said he will vigorously campaign for PF to ensure it wins by a landslide margin in the August elections. Meanwhile, former FDD Spokesperson Yotam Mtayachalo has said the resignation of prominent and long serving opposition politicians from the major opposition party to join the Patriotic Front is a sign that the major opposition political party is crumbling while the ruling party’s popularity is growing from strength to strength ahead of 12th August,2021 general elections.

Mr Mtayachalo said the ruling party has positioned itself well on the ground hence being the party of choice because of its vibrant mobilization activities countrywide and more importantly it has a clear message of hope to the people of Zambia and as such prospects of it retaining power after this year’s general elections are high.

He said the ruling party will retain power this year because it has been winning almost all by elections even in the opposition strongholds. “If really the people of Zambia wanted change as being claimed by the opposition, the ruling party would have been losing these elections the way it used to be with the MMD prior to the 2011 general elections, ” Mr Mtayachalo said. Mr Mtayachalo however, said the PF must not take things for granted but continue to work hard and reach out to people so that come 12th august,2021 the ruling party must win convincingly in order for it to continue implementing various ambitious developmental projects President Lungu and his administration have embarked on especially in the area of infrastructure develop.

The ruling Patriotic Front (PF) in Lusaka Province has charged that attempts by the opposition UPND to sabotage the civil service are a cheap political gimmick.

PF Lusaka Province Chairman Kennedy Kamba says the party is aware that the UPND is making cheap political gimmicks and maneuvers by using civil servants to try and create an impression that the PF is failing to manage its cadres.

Addressing the media in Lusaka this afternoon, Mr. Kamba Charged that these maneuvers are highly provocative and will not help the UPND gain popularity because the truth will always come out.

And Mr. Kamba has reiterated that the three young men seen in footage harassing a female civil servant at the Ministry of Works and Supply are not members of the PF in Lusaka adding that their criminal activities have nothing to do with the party.

He disclosed that the lead culprit has been identified as Charles Kakula, a medical clerk officer from Kabwe.

The PF Lusaka Province boss says the party is baffled that Kakula traveled to Lusaka and staged the harassment of an innocent fellow civil servant claiming that he is a PF cadre in Lusaka and had the audacity to drag the woman to the office of the Permanent Secretary, and further issued inflammatory statements before cameras.

“These are desperate attempts by a frustrated political party as it is headed for another electoral defeat come August this year,” he said.

Mr. Kamba has since thanked the police for arresting Kakula and his friends for such criminal activities under the pretext that he was a PF cadre.

“No person, PF cadre or not can go Scot free after committing such a crime, Mr. Kamba stated.

Mr. Kamba further stated that the party is perplexed as everyone else that another video of a civil servant identified as Aaron Mwanza, a registered nurse at Chainama Hills College clad in a UPND regalia recorded himself for more than three minutes while at work, disparaging the PF government and campaigning for the UPND.

He charged that all civil servants have a well elaborate code of conduct and it is highly unacceptable to take politics to places of work.

The Provincial Chairman charged that this kind of indiscipline will never be taken kindly or tolerated.

“As earlier stated, we know so well that some civil servants have been paid to sabotage government by coming up with such misconduct to demonstrate disobedience and defiance to the state and the government of the day,” Mr. Kamba said.

Mr. Kamba said while Zambia is a democracy, civil servants are not allowed to take politics to their places of work.

Pethias Bullz Chuundu Mweemba writes below 👇👇

OPEN A LETTER TO THE UPND LEADER AND NATIONAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE.

BY #MWANA #WACUUNDU, UPND MEMBER:

Firstly I want to thank the National Management Committee for allowing Democracy to flourish from Ward, District, and Constituency level for people to elect Candidates whom they think will help President Hakainde Hichilema to deliver victory for UPND.

For sometime people they have been calling for grassroot Candidates, people who are loved by they community, people who understand what their fellow citizens go through in these communities.

For me personally I have loved this process bcz it’s more like whoever people shall elect it will give them more Powers and courage to support and in an event that He or she fails to deliver it will be very easy for the voters to question Him.

I followed the adoption process across the country bcz I believe and understand that Electons are also worn at adoption. Candidates who will be adopted can make UPND win electons or lose. Since yesterday I have been receiving calls and texts messages across the country from our members, others are happy with the candidates who worn the primary electons and others are not happy. I know electons it’s about winning and losing, but for the losers to congratulate the winners their must be a clean game. Corruption must not be entertained at any level bcz we may be saying such a candidate He or She is a grassroot Candidate #Kanshi #Alilyamo. Currently even at Ward or brunch level people they have become lovers of money hence engaging themselves into corruption activities.

I understand that one of the key points in our Manifesto it’s fighting corruption, we want a free corrupt country, and I believe and understand that we can demonstrate this when having intra party electons.

I know and understand that the National management committee it has a final say on who is suppose to stand in a particular Constituency more especially when it come to MPs.

My humble request to President Hakainde Hichilema all those candidates who worn primary electons through corruption must not be adopted to avoid confusion and other people leaving the party through frustrations.

We need everyone on board this time around and we can only achieve our goal through doing the right thing now.

Victory is assured if popular candidates are adopted. This time around we don’t want to have independent MPs in our Strong holds and Copperbelt.

I know this letter shall reach President Hakainde Hichilema. Anthony Bwalya

THE ECZ MEETING OF CANDIDATES: WHO IS THE TARGET?

Constitutionally, candidate ”means a person contesting a presidential, parliamentary or local government election” (Article 266) and not an aspirant who has not been yet adopted, paid nomination fees and declared duly nominated by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ)

How does the ECZ set up 28 April, 2021 as a briefing for candidates to the August 12 General Election when on this date there will be no candidates and nomination fees not yet paid to ECZ so that attendees are bonafide candidates?

Will we have candidates by or on this date going by the definition of the word candidate in the Republican Constitution under Article 266 for the ECZ to convene and ADDRESS?

Which law will the ECZ use to define, select and invite the so called candidates to its MEETING and what will be the sitting of this action against the existing constitution?

Who will be the candidates when political parties are still doing primaries and adoptions to select candidates in line with the constitutional definition?

I find this action extremely outside the law especially that most political parties have indicated sharing adopted candidates after APRIL, 2021?

Is ECZ trying to suggest that all aspiring candidates regardless of their adoption and nomination status must attend these briefing at national, constituency, districts and ward level?

Imagine the numbers that will attend these briefings as some parties have more than 5 candidates per constituency, district and ward.

I think this is a premature briefing and call for organised confusion and must put on hold until political parties adopt their candidates and nomination fees paid.

Why can’t the ECZ wait for the adoptions in political parties to finish and adopted candidates’ lists shared or made public including those standing as independent for it to organise for these briefings at national, district, constituency or ward level?

Isn’t this pure ambushing political parties and those who want to stand as independents and isn’t this organised disorganisation on the part of the ECZ?

And who was consulted over this activity? Where political parties consulted and those who intend to be independent and did they know these independents in the absence of paid nomination fees?

Let this briefing wait until nominations are done that is when we shall have genuine and validated candidates.

I submit

Chipenzi

Interesting read by Stanley Mudenda;

“BOYS FROM BAROTSE

My people are bad news! By my people, I mean The Lozis. Boy, oh boy! You don’t want to mess around with my people. I don’t mean these sindambi-eating and kachasu-drinking miscreants who roam the villages of Choma, Namwala and Itezhi-tezhi stealing goats and chickens, I mean the real Lozi Mandunas, the crocodile eating, the demon-taming and no-nonsense razzle-dazzling impis –lone commandos who can take down armies. These are the real Lozis I am talking about, my people.

Think of Commander Shapa Wakung’uma , and cold shivers will run down the spines of any crankshaft-lifting thugs who call themselves KOMANDAs. Remember how Officer Shapa clobbered a battalion of panga-armed lunatics from Inter-City who went to terrorise Sesheke villagers during an election. He wired them so thoroughly that even their recruiters felt the pain.

Eyewitnesses reported Shapa braving the pangas that threatened to slice him into mincemeat and descended on cadres who had threatened to burn down a police station. He clobbered them single-handedly and left dozens with broken bones and a couple requiring oxygen support.

Those who survived the beating threw away their pangas and tried to get away in their cruisers. Unfortunately, Shapa overtook them and overturned those getaway vehicles and set some ablaze. He pursued the offending scoundrels on foot to their camps which he invaded and continued whipping the komandas who started crying in their mother tongues while begging for mercy. The only thing which saved the rascals was a stand-down order from Lusaka by the IG himself. That was a feat for which Shapa was fired for.

That Sesheke election brought us one Romeo Kang’ombe. The youthful Honourable is a firebrand of the moment. He is another of my people. He recently got convicted for dismantling and rearranging the dental formulae of two heavily-armed police officers who were harassing him in Muchinga when he went for tourism.

The circumstances under which the Honourable MP turned Kickboxer are not clear, but it was reported that after being taunted beyond human endurance, Romeo unleashed a powerful left round kick which swept the officers off their feet and sent them spinning several times in the air before they landed some 7 metres from Romeo in a miserable pile of groaning human flesh.

A constable who cocked his gun and levelled it to shoot had no opportunity to pull the trigger. Romeo was on him faster than Mike Tyson and gave him one upper-cut which uprooted his incisors. The Constable is said to have thrown away his gun and took to his heels and ran all the way home. It is said he resigned from the service the following day.

The two officers who had been felled by that one kick staggered up after a couple of minutes utterly disoriented and perplexed. It took 2 weeks of mental health treatment with herbs imported from Zaire at a witch doctor’s clinic to fetch the memories of the two officers back. It was how they reported the lawmaker to themselves for assault.

I dare you with my people. Watch out against any Lozi name with an apostrophe. Shapa Wakung’uma and Romeo Kang’ombe are just examples of the boys from Barotse.”

By Mundia Mooka

12 AUGUST SIGNAL, LET’S READ BETWEEN THE LINES

What happened at the PF general conference held at Mulungushi Conference Centre on 10th April 2021 should worry every well meaning Zambian, because it is likely to be copied by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) on 12 August 2021.

What is clear is that no voting took place but there were ‘winners.’ The question is how did those who found themselves on the list as Members of the Central Committee (MCC) elect get there?

We should be worried because ECZ might do just exactly the same. ECZ might decide not to announce commutative vote tallies and only to announce the final figures and declare the winner. Believe me or not ECZ can be forced to do this by the PF because it is the party in control of instruments of power. This they can do because it will be the easiest way PF can easily sway the democratic will of the people, just like it happened at the PF general conference.

Don’t forget that ECZ is one of the compromised institutions of governance in Zambia. How do you know institutions of governance have been compromised in a country? If a Court Judge could be woken up at midnight by the ruling class and he or she obliges. Can Patrick Shindano and Esau Chulu, ECZ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman, respectively, refuse to attend overnight meetings convened by the PF for purposes of securing victory on 12 August 2021? Where do you think President Edgar Lungu gets the confidence to run for a third time?

The question is what would the opposition do if ECZ elects to tally the votes quietly for whatever number of days and only to give the final figures and declare President Edgar Lungu winner?

Let’s learn to read between the lines. Don’t you see the signs that the ECZ is not likely to give audience to the opposition to present their concerns in the name of autonomy, while the doctoring of figures is going on? Or don’t you see the possibility of ECZ simply telling the opposition to go to court?

Don’t forget that with the cyber security law in place, internet and voice communication might be taken off air for days until the ECZ is done doctoring the figures.

With PF in charge anything is possible.

If you Ignore this warning I have raised here you will be shocked. Open your eyes.

Sounds like I am mad isn’t it? But again am not worried if I am, because it is scientifically proven that everyone is mad, basically, except that levels of madness differ in each individual.

Mundia Mooka the Parliamentarian

LUSAKA lawyer John Sangwa says the only difference between PF and UPND is the fact that one is led by Edgar Lungu and the other by Hakainde Hichilema.

Speaking on Radio Phoenix’s Let the People Talk programme yesterday, Sangwa said only the Socialist Party has a clearly set agenda which distinguishes itself from the others.

Sangwa, who took time condemning the money being thrown around in campaigns, said anybody who throws money at voters was actually ignorant of the dynamics of politics.

He said he had faith in the Zambian voter.

“If the Zambian voter was stupid, RB [Rupiah Banda] would have won in 2011. RB had more money than Michael Sata but in the end the people collected the money and still voted the way they voted. Even in this election, I believe people are wise enough, you cannot buy votes, first of all it’s an investment whose returns cannot be guaranteed,” he said.

Sangwa said giving handouts to voters was insulting the people.

He said Dr Kenneth Kaunda ruled for 27 years because he delivered and was only kicked out when his system collapsed.

He said people do not care who was in power as long as their lives were okay.

“But when their lives are affected, they begin to ask, who is responsible for this mess? And then they find that it is you who was voted in power who has messed up and they will throw you out,” he said.

He said there was no need to bribe voters by anyone who had delivered.

Sangwa said in 1964, there were two parties that emerged – the Africa National Congress and UNIP.

He said UNIP had the majority as a result they elected a prime minister in 1964 and then the prime minister became President after independence.

He said the assumption was that at some point the ANC, which was the second largest political party, would be able to do a better job and be able to become the ruling party.

“But that is not what we saw. What we saw was a systematic destruction of the ANC by UNIP, which resulted in the introduction of one party rule in 1972. And that wiped out the ANC. So there’s that failure to understand the necessity of an opposition party,” he said.

He noted after 27 years of UNIP’s rule, Zambia that was one of the richest countries in Africa, was crippled, became the worst indebted and least developed country in Africa by 1991.

“Now why? Because when you are a one-party ruler, there’s nobody to challenge you. You are able to put up crazy policies and everything else which were responsible for damaging the economy and everything else,” he said.

He said after 1991, the nation never had a conversation around what multiparty politics were in terms of how they were supposed to operate.

“First of all, you have problems within the political party itself. This is a problem that is still there today. That’s why you find this nonsense of somebody is today PF, the following day he’s UPND. Somebody who is UPND tomorrow he’s PF,” he said. “Now that’s failure to understand… When you make a decision to be PF or to be UPND, there’s something about PF that you like and there’s something about UPND that you like – that will make you to say okay, I will go to PF as opposed to UPND. Or I will go to UPND as opposed to PF. That should be the thinking of the membership. But unfortunately, these two political parties have not even articulated their differences because I can ask you or maybe if you ask me, what does the PF believe in and what does the UPND believe in? I would have a problem in answering that question. The only difference would be the fact that, well UPND is led by HH and the other one is led by ECL. For me that will be the only major difference. What about policies? What kind of values do they have? What kind of principles do these parties have? They haven’t been articulated. And that’s why it is so easy for somebody to jump from one political party to another political party because there’s no clear-cut principles and values. Maybe the only distinction is my friend’s political party, which is the Socialist Party, which has a clearly set agenda which distinguishes itself from the others. It has given its own identity. They have articulated their position to say, fine we are Socialist Party and this is what we stand for.”

Sangwa said for one to go socialist, it means they must buy into the values of the Socialist Party.

“Now when you look at the UPND, look at the PF, what is it that distinguishes them in terms of policies? You can say, okay we will create jobs, we will create this, but how are you going to do that?” Sangwa asked. “You see, so there’s a problem and that’s why it is so easy for one person to jump from one political party to another. The other problem also is that after 1991, we did not have that conversation that, fine we are now in a multiparty system, what does it mean? And you saw that in 1991, there was obviously a landslide victory by MMD.”

And Sangwa emphasised on the credibility of whatever the Electoral Commission of Zambia does.

He noted that the old register that had about six million registered voters had been discarded and about seven million were captured in a new register.

He said assuming the figures were correct, what was currently in place was a better register.

“But it is not so much about numbers, it is about ECZ doing a bit more to allay some concerns of the people. You can do a very good job but if you don’t go out to explain what you are doing, even if what you are doing is good, it will be doubted, it will not be credible and if it is not credible, everything that you do will be in vain,” he said.

Sangwa said it was important to understand that the ECZ was running the electoral process for the people and not for a political party.

He said it was important for ECZ to take measures to address genuine concerns by political players.

He said the participants in the political process must have faith in what ECZ was doing.

“ECZ can achieve that by promptly responding to their concerns so that there is transparency,” he said.

Sangwa said he had heard that there were requests for the voters’ register to be audited but the ECZ had refused.

“That is something that requires urgent attention because that goes to the credibility of the entire exercise. What is the purpose of an audit? It’s really to verify what you have done by an independent body, a body outside ECZ,” he said.

He said he could not see any reason why there should be resistance to have the voters’ register audited.

Sangwa said there were allegations that in opposition strongholds fewer people were registered compared to the PF’s strongholds.

“Somebody has to explain that because the numbers that are coming out are quite significant and various theories have been cooked up,” he said.

He said since the process was being conducted by ECZ and not any political party, it was the job of the electoral body to ensure more people are registered.

“So we need a more logical explanation to account for that huge variance in the numbers, it’s not something that can just be explained away,” he said.

Sangwa said the audit would explain why there was a variation in the numbers of voters.

“The point is this: it is the job of ECZ to explain these things because we are talking numbers, we are not talking feelings because you can’t measure feelings,” he said. “The country was subjected to the same social and economic conditions. If you say may be there was war there, or there was peace here, that’s why there was more registration of voters. We can understand that but we were faced with the same conditions throughout the country, then how do you explain these variations in the number of registered voters? We need a credible explanation.”

Sangwa also expressed worry over pronouncements by ruling party politicians that they would win the August elections by landslide margins.

“And I am saying, wait a minute, where are you getting your numbers from? Because winning an election with 500,000 votes is a huge win. First of all, who has done an exercise on the ground on the views of the people to show that this is indeed feasible, it is possible? When you look at the data on the ground, that is impossible, in my own opinion,” Sangwa said. “There is no way a ruling party can claim to have a landslide win…but let’s assume that statement is correct; first of all, what is the basis of that information? Now the data on the ground does not support that. In fact, in recent times, no president has ever won an election with that kind of margin anyway.”

Sangwa said when one looks at the 2016 election, the winning candidate had to reach the 50 per cent mark.

He said President Lungu won with 50.3 per cent, which translated to about 13 per cent.

He said President Lungu’s win in 2016 as reflected on the ECZ website was with about 29,000 votes.

Sangwa explained that the difference in votes between President Lungu and his main rival was 100,000.

“Now tell me, how are you going to get 500,000 votes? How are you going to replicate that five times, how? How?” he asked.

Sangwa said if an election is free and fair, there was no way anyone could predict that they would have a landslide victory.

He wondered how it was “humanly possible” that the PF would get five times more votes than they obtained in 2016.

“For me these are kinds of statements that I would consider to be irresponsible to make because then what you are doing is that you…nobody can say that because you don’t know how I am going to vote, okay, unless you have some power of divination where you are going to predict the future. That’s different, but if you don’t, you can’t even make such a prediction,” Sangwa said. “But if you arrogantly state something like that then people are saying, why are you saying that? Why don’t you say you are going to win by 200,000 votes? At least, why 500,000 votes? Those are statements that are likely to undermine and make the work of the ECZ very difficult.”

Sangwa said a vote in Zambia was secret and nobody knew who the others would vote for.

He said anything could happen between now and August when the elections would be held so it was irresponsible for anybody to make such pronouncements.

By Isaac Mwanza

Introduction

Following the sentencing of Sesheke Member of Parliament, Romeo Kang’ombe, to 12 months imprisonment with hard labour on charges of assault and abduction of two police officers, a sentence which the Subordinate Court suspended for 2 years, the question has arisen in the legal fraternity as to whether Mr. Kangombe can join the parliamentary race in the 2021 General Election. The simple and straightforward answer is NO, he is not eligible. Here is why.

What is a suspended sentence?

A suspended prison sentence is the term given to a custodial or prison sentence imposed by the court, and then suspended, that is, the execution of the sentence is delayed at the discretion of the court for a period of time determined by the court.

By virtue of Section 16 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Chapter 88 of the Laws of Zambia, criminal courts in Zambia enjoy the inherent and discretionary power to suspend sentences prior to their execution. A suspended custodial sentence may be accompanied by a fine. If it becomes necessary for the court to impose a custodial sentence, it will fix the term of imprisonment according to the gravity of the offence, and then decide whether the case is one in which the prison sentence can properly be suspended.

Where the execution of a custodial or prison sentence has been suspended and the offender has, during the period of the suspension, observed all the conditions specified in the order, the sentence shall not be enforced. However, if the defendant breaches the terms of the suspended sentence, or commits another offence, they are likely to be sent to prison to serve the original prison term imposed. The fact is that a fine, a custodial sentence, suspension of sentence and any disqualification flowing therefrom, must all be considered as part of the total punishment

Constitutional Provision

The relevant constitutional provision is Article 70(2) (f) of the Constitution of Zambia which reads:

“A person is disqualified from being elected as a Member of Parliament if that person is serving a sentence of imprisonment for an offence under a written law.”

A sentence can be a sentence of imprisonment, one which can be served in or outside prison at the discretion of the court or a sentence where fine is paid or both or a sentence of death. The above provision is concerned with the serving of a sentence of imprisonment, which can be served in or outside prison.

From this point, it is important to define the key words in this provision. According to Oxford Dictionary, the term serving means “to spend a period of time doing something.” The Black’s Law Dictionary defines a sentence as “the judgment that a court formally pronounces after finding a criminal defendant guilty or the punishment imposed on a criminal wrongdoer” and imprisonment as “the act of confining a person, especially in a prison.”

The paraphrased version of Article 70(2) (f) of the Constitution of Zambia, therefore, means that a person who is serving a prison sentence, even if such sentence is suspended by the court for any period of time, is disqualified from being elected as a Member of Parliament. This is because that person is spending a period of time under sentence of a prison term following a judgment formally pronounced by a court after finding that person guilty as a criminal defendant and imposing such prison sentence as punishment imposed on a criminal wrongdoer, which includes confinement of that person, especially in a prison for an offence under a written law.

In effect, Mr. Kang’ombe is serving the 12-month prison sentence, except that the court has decided not to confine him to prison or a correctional facility, on condition that, over the next 2 years, he does not commit another offence or breach any of the conditions imposed by the sentencing court.

Historical Perspective of Article 70(2)(f)

Similar provisions of Article 70(2)(f) can be traced to Article 65(1)(c) of the 1991 Constitution of Zambia as well as in Article 65(1)(c) of the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No. 18 of 1996. The following articles read as follows:

“Article 65(1)(c) Constitution of Zambia, 1991

“No person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly who is under sentence of death imposed on him by a court in Zambia or a sentence of imprisonment, by whatever name called, imposed on him by such a court or substituted by a competent authority for some other sentence imposed on him by such court.”

Article 65(1)(c), Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No. 18 of 1996

“A person shall not be qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly if that person is under a sentence of death imposed on him by a court in Zambia or a sentence of imprisonment, by whatever name called, imposed on him by such a court or substituted by a competent authority for some other sentence imposed on him by a court.”

However, in both the 1991 and 1996 Constitution, the law expressly excluded an instance where one is serving a suspended sentence, from being disqualified for election as a Member of Parliament. The law respectively enacted in clauses 6 and 8 of Article 65, the following independent clause:

“In this Article, the reference to a sentence of imprisonment shall be construed as not including a sentence of imprisonment the execution of which is suspended or a sentence of imprisonment in default of payment of a fine.”

During the amendment process to the Constitution of Zambia after 2011, the framers of the law attempted to retain this same provision as above that excluded one being barred from running for parliamentary office if one was under a sentence of imprisonment the execution of which has been suspended, or more simply put, when one was under a suspended prison sentence. The 2012 Draft Constitution had thus included the said provision in the proposed Article 137(4).

However, the provision was dropped from the Final Draft Constitution produced in 2013. The Constitution of Zambia as amended in 2016 no longer has a provision which excludes one from being disqualified if they are serving a suspended prison sentence.

Implication of the suspended sentence imposed on Mr. Kangombe

Let me remind the reader, that the Sesheke lawmaker was slapped with a sentence of 12 months imprisonment with hard labour on charges of assault and abduction of two police officers. This sentence has been suspended for 2 years. Can we say, therefore, that because the court suspended the prison sentence for 2 years, Mr. Kangombe is not serving that sentence? The answer is No!

Mr. Kang’ombe is very much under that sentence, and is serving it, except that the custodial portion has been delayed at the discretion of the court. If he breaches the conditions for the suspended sentence imposed by the court at any time over the next 2 years, then the suspension of the custodial portion, will be revoked by the court and Mr. Kang’ombe will “go in”, he would be arrested and taken into custody to serve the 12 months custodial sentence.

It may be argued that a suspended sentence means one is not “serving” a term of imprisonment but would only do so if the conditions for the suspension of the sentence are breached. The definition of “serving a sentence”, based on both the Oxford and Black’s Law Dictionary, is simply that serving a sentence means that one is spending a period of time under a judgment that a court formally pronounced after finding a criminal defendant guilty.

The sentence which was imposed on Mr. Kangombe by the court, is that of imprisonment, that is, 12 months’ imprisonment with hard labour for charges of assault and abduction, suspended to 2 years.

A suspended sentence means that one still has unfinished business with the convicting court for the duration of the sentence. Under a suspended sentence, one is serving a sentence, except that, that person is not incarcerated or placed in custody. Though not incarcerated, Mr. Kangombe has a sentence of imprisonment hovering over his head for the duration of the suspension of that sentence.

To be clear, Mr. Kangombe would have qualified to stand in an election if the 1991 and 1996 provisions which excluded a suspended sentence, were not taken out from the Constitution.

Conclusion

Here, it is shown that serving a sentence of imprisonment does not mean that one must be in prison. A sentence can be a sentence of imprisonment which can be served in or outside prison at the discretion of the court. One can serve a sentence of imprisonment outside prison, in a scenario in which execution of the sentence has been suspended or where one is doing community service or is probation as opposed to being placed in custody in a prison.

Clearly, it was not the intention of the framers of the law to say one must be in prison to be disqualified from running for parliamentary office, otherwise they would have expressly provided that one is not disqualified from running for office if one is under a suspended sentence of imprisonment. The intention was to exclude those who serve a sentence, either in prison or outside prison, provided such a sentence was one of imprisonment.

As can further be seen from the analysis, the provisions which excluded one from being barred when one is serving a suspended sentence, were excluded from the Constitution of Zambia as amended in 2016. If Mr. Kangombe wants to proceed with filing nominations, he is free to do so but he should certainly expect a legal challenge to his nomination and it would provide a good opportunity to test the law once again.

Lusaka Lawyer John Sangwa has confirmed that he will go ahead and petition President Edgar Lungu’s eligibility to contest the August 2021 general elections.

Mr. Sangwa said now that it is abundantly clear President Lungu wants to stand as President in the August polls, he will go ahead and challenge his eligibility in the Constitutional Court.

Speaking on Phoenix FM’s Let the People Talk radio programme on Tuesday, Mr Sangwa said it is now up to the Court to determine whether President Lungu qualifies to stand or not.

“I have deliberately avoided the eligibility matter on this programme because I know that this is a matter that will be resolved by the Courts and I think we would have all the indications on the ground that the matter would have to be resolved by Court soon,” Mr Sangwa said.

“I think we have debated enough, I think people have given their positions, I think the one camp is saying this issue is already resolved by the Court and I am saying that no it has not been resolved by the Courts but you know you can have a debate up to a certain point and when you are stuck in your respective positions, the only civil thing to do is to allow the matter to be decided in court.”

“And its not far, it’s only next month and of God willing, we will still be standing then we will see how the matter will be settled,” Mr Sangwa said.

“You see, we need to have faith in ten institutions that we have, we have our judicial system, although they are lowly paid but the truth is that these are the only institutions we have and when there is a dispute and we are falling to agree on, we take the matter to court for interpretation.”

He said,”There has been a lot of time expended on the issue of eligibility and we can’t seem to agree abd the next thing we have to do is leave it for the Court to decide.”

On calls by some PF offocials that Mr Sangwa be arrested for treason for questioning President Lungu’s eligibility, Mr Sangwa said he has not done anything illegal.

“I have argued that in my opinion, the only person who should be arrested is the one whom I believe is not edible to hold office. I am simply standing in defence of the constitution which is an obligation for me as a Lawyer and I have taken oath to protect the constitution and I don’t know how that can translate into treason?

By Judith Mulenga CiSCA Chairperson

The Civil Society Constitution Agenda (CiSCA) strongly condemns the extremely dangerous, discriminatory and unconstitutional utterances by Patriotic Front member Munir Zulu, when he clearly violated the constitutionally guaranteed right of every person in Zambia not to be discriminated against.

During a discussion on Muvi TV’s “The Furnace” aired on Thursday 8th April 2021, and anchored by Kelvin Tabula Chifokolo, Munir Zulu unashamedly declared that, “the minority cannot rule over the majority” in Zambia. Ironically, Munir Zulu referred to the “genocide in Rwanda”, while he himself was making utterances similar to what caused the genocide in Rwanda.

Munir Zulu’s utterances clearly violate our Constitution. In the Preamble, we the Zambian people commit to “Recognise and uphold the multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural character of our Nation…” Further, the substantive provision of Article 4(3) of the same Constitution also recognizes the fact that “The Republic (of Zambia) is a unitary, indivisible, multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-party democratic State…”

Munir Zulu’s utterances also violate Section 70 sub section (1) of the Penal Code Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia, which states that, “Any person who utters any words or publishes any writing expressing or showing hatred, ridicule or contempt for any person or group of persons wholly or mainly because of his or their race, tribe, place of origin or colour is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.” Therefore by making the utterances that Munir made on national television, Munir committed a cognizable offence and does not need to be reported by anyone for him to be arrested by the police.

CiSCA wonders where Munir Zulu gets the guts to so recklessly violate our Constitution? Looking at the unfettered diabolical confidence which Munir Zulu displayed during the interview as he spewed his prejudices against other Zambians and his ignorant interpretation of what constitutes minority and democratic elections, it seemed like he had the support of his party’s higher offices. If not, we challenge the Secretary General of the PF to publicly and strongly censure Munir. We believe that Munir, like many other cadres in the ruling party, have been emboldened by other leaders in the party who have similarly uttered reckless statements without retribution from senior leadership in the party.

Munir, has a very low random access memory (RAM) because since 2016 with the 50 + 1% votes needed for one to become President, the so called ‘majorities’ need the so called ‘minorities’ even more than before. If in 2001 during the first past the post electoral process, President Mwanawasa was elected from the so called minority ethnic extraction and became President, what about now? Did Munir miss the memo on the attempted ‘kavundula’ Bill 10 and what its aim was? Does he not know that he is shooting his party in both feet at the same time?

CiSCA calls on the police to immediately arrest Munir Zulu. If they don’t, we will be left with no option but to report his non-arrest to the Office of the Public Protector under Article 244 of our Constitution and if nothing happens with this office, we will escalate the matter to relevant regional and international bodies as we will deem the non action as having exhausted all local remedies. We want to remind this violent cadre and his ilk that non discrimination is the cornerstone of the international human rights framework that compelled the United Nation’s drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted on 10th December 1948 because of the inhuman treatment of the Jewish people and others deemed ‘undesirables’ by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Seventy-two years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this man can brazenly spew such vitriol against other ethnic groupings without any consequences? We cannot allow this level of lawlessness to continue unabated. This is extremely dangerous, and a real threat to our peace and stability. We also would like to take this opportunity to remind the nation that since 10th December 1948, human rights stopped being a sovereignty matter! The global community realized that dictators thrive on suppression of their people’s human rights and on divide and rule.

Zambia is not an “animal farm” where some people are more equal than others. We are a constitutional democracy, and all citizens have an equal claim to the running of the affairs of this country, regardless of their ethnicity, social, economic, political, religious or any other basis. We are all equal, and our equality is unconditional. Period!

KEBBY Mbewe says President Edgar Lungu will go unopposed even in the general elections just like was the case with the PF presidential race because the opposition is melting slowly especially the UPND.

However, Mbewe says “the August polls as much as no one can compete with President Lungu, I see that Socialist Party will probably put up a good battle because it is growing faster than UPND on the ground”.

In an interview, Mbewe said it was now clear to all that the PF had no strong opposition to compete with in the August Presidential and General Elections.

“The UPND general membership must start accepting that their party leader Hakainde Hichilema is not given an opportunity by God to lead this country and as a result President Edgar Lungu will still go unopposed even on general elections just like was the case with our party, PF presidency because the opposition is melting slowly especially the UPND,” he said.

Mbewe claimed that President Lungu’s good leadership qualities, coupled with massive development, had melted the fortunes of the opposition in the country.

And Mbewe said he expected the Socialist Party to perform better in the forthcoming August general elections than the country’s largest opposition political party the UPND.

“The August polls as much as no one can compete with President Lungu, I see that Socialist Party will probably put up a good battle because it is growing faster than UPND on the ground. My advice for HH is that it’s high time now he conceded defeat. It’s high time he handed over leadership to another member who would want to lead UPND because he has done his best,” he added. “He has run his race and we would want to thank him that he has been a very good opposition [leader]. His time to hand over to somebody else has come because it will be very unfair for him to remain for 20 years in opposition and losing six times. I think UPND [national management committee] NMC should start reorganising themselves and look for another candidate for 2021 and 2026 because the way it is now we want UPND to exist as an opposition so that even us we don’t relax. We need the opposition but not under HH who has continued to fail people of Zambia.”

Mbewe said he feels pity for Hichilema, describing the country’s main opposition leader as a loner.

“Let him reflect and see where he goes wrong. He couldn’t work with everyone including sitting presidents like the late [Levy] Mwanawasa, Rupiah Banda, late [Michael] Sata and now President Lungu. Even those he formed an alliance with, majority have left him,” he said.

Mbewe claimed that there was a lot of panic in the UPND camp after it had dawned on them that the 2021 wind was blowing in favour of President Lungu.

“This shows that we have really worked hard as PF in all parts of the country, no wonder there is no wind of change. My appeal to people in the UPND strongholds, especially Southern Province is that can they be part of the people that will celebrate the reelection of President Lungu,” Mbewe said.

He thanked President Lungu for reappointing him as PF member of the central committee, adding that the PF president had confidence in him.

“I owe it to the President; I owe it to the party. And I will make sure that Southern Province and other parts of the country will never be the same. I’m proud to have continued to serve on national level especially on part of Southern Province where there is too much opposition,” Mbewe said. “For me, it’s a privilege because I’m seeing that every day the people of Southern Province are responding positively whenever we visit them. I think my presence in the province and of the Head of State has made UPND to be a weak party in Zambia because we never used to exist in Southern Province but now we are there.”

He described his reappointment as a greatest achievement of his political career.
“Today the people of Southern Province are with us because of President Lungu’s good leadership. I want to assure the nation and the party that I will continue to make sure that UPND vanishes in Southern Province until citizens know the truth that they have been cheated for a very long time,” said Mbewe. “We will continue to engage the people of Southern Province until they realise the importance of working with the government of the day.”