THE ELIGIBILITY CASE AND THE PASSAGE OF BILL7 – HOW THE TWO CAN HELP RESOLVE THE BURIAL IMPASSE OF ECL
The court with the correct jurisdiction and the highest in the land had heard and declared ECL eligible to stand in 2026.
It was, like they say, an open-and-shut case or was it?
The Constitutional Court was asked to vacate its earlier decision and it did! ECL was no longer eligible to contest the 2026 elections.
What does this have to do with his burial? You may ask.
The Zambian government has argued precedence to claim the state’s right to bury the late and former President.
Just ask the court to vacate its earlier decision.
Coming to Bill 7, the constitutional court ruled the process as null and void.
What did government do? It set up the Mushabati Committee and conducted public consultations thus meeting the legal requirements for amending the constitution.
Similarly, if government is as serious about burying ECL as it has been on declaring him ineligible and passing Bill 7, it would simply call (even a special sitting of) parliament and pass a law on how sitting and former Presidents may be buried.
The best law should be one that offers two options or a hybrid one: bury according to the will of the deceased or according to the law or a combination of both to be worked out mutually between the state and the family.
There’s no man-made problem that can take as long as the burial impasse of ECL has taken where there’s a will.
Sir, you cannot apply the law retroactively. So your solution is not a solution at all.