Former National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Chishimba Kambwili has opposed the decision by Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti to prevent all Patriotic Front Members of Parliament from taking part in the business of the house despite filling appeals against the nullification of their seats by the High Court.
Speaker Mutti this week ruled that Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo is out of order to remain in the House after the nullification of his election victory by the High Court.
Ms. Mutti has further ruled that in view of her ruling, all Members of Parliament whose election results were nullified by a decision of the High Court, whether or not such a decision has been appealed against, shall forthwith not take part in any Parliamentary business.
But Dr. Kambwili said the Speaker’s ruling has no legal backing and must be rescinded immediately.
“When one’s case has been petitioned and nullified by the lower court which is the High Court, he cannot be removed from Parliament until all the legal protests which mean the appeal to the Supreme Court is exhausted. Anything outside that is illegal but in this country we tend to accept illegality because we are supporting that particular Government at a particular time and we only come to talk about the ideal after they have left office,” Dr Kambwili said on Sun FM Radio.
“What has happened to the MPs is exactly what happened to me (in 2019) where the speaker of the National Assembly declared my Roan Seat vacant when I had an appeal pending at the Supreme Court. And when the matter went to the Constitutional Court, the Constitutional Court made reference to article 73 (4) and said the Speaker had overshot his boundary in interpreting the law which he should have left to the competent court of jurisdiction and in this case which is the Constitutional Court,” he said.
According to the speaker’s interpretation of Article 73 of the constitution, when the Petition is determined by the High Court and a seat is nullified, a Member shall cease to hold the seat and shall not take part in any parliamentary business unless and until the Constitutional Court overturns the decision of the High Court, adding that, however, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) cannot proceed to hold by-elections until the decision of the Constitutional Court.
“So what the Speaker did is exactly what his predecessor did to me and was condemned by the Constitutional Court but because this thing is politically motivated. It is the Government of the day which instructed the speaker to make that ruling whether it has a legal backing or not. And if our President and I am saying our President Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, the President of the Republic of Zambia is fair enough, he should tell the Speaker that she erred and that that decision must be rescinded because it is not supported by any legal sense,” Dr. Kambwili added.
“Members of Parliament from time immemorial have been petitioned, they have lost the petition at first stage, but none of the MP has been removed from Parliament before the decision of the superior court in those days the Supreme Court. The Speaker is a very prominent lawyer and I know that making that decision she just had political pressure and what has happened now she has put her name into disrepute. She has destroyed her name which she built over a long period of time just because of political interference.”
“I want to appeal to all Zambians to condemn this. The PF celebrated when the speaker illegally removed me from office. The PF should have condemned it then but they supported it. Now it has happened to them, if they had condemned it when it happened to Chishimba Kambwili this time it could not have been done,” he concluded.