CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CHANGES ITS MIND OVER KWACHA AND KABUSHI SEATS
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CHANGES ITS MIND OVER KWACHA AND KABUSHI SEATS
The Constitutional Court has dismissed two appeals where former Foreign Affairs Minister JOSEPH MALANJI and former LUSAKA Province Minister BOWMAN LUSAMBO sought the nullification of the October 2022 Kwacha and Kabushi Parliamentary by-elections.
Previously, the Constitutional Court ruled that the holding of Kabushi and Kwacha elections wiyhout Joseph Malanji and Bowman Lusambo was illegal as there were unfairly excluded from the elections.
In Mr. MALANJI’s appeal, where he contested the legality of the Kwacha by-election, the Constitutional Court has ruled that the poll was conducted in accordance with the law.
The court has dismissed Mr .MALANJI arguments that the conduct of the by-election contravened article 52 sub-article six of the Constitution and Section 97 of the Electoral Process Act.
Meanwhile in Mr .LUSAMBO’s appeal, where he similarly challenged the legality of KABUSHI by-election, the Constitutional Court has ruled that the conduct of the poll did not violate the provisions of the law.
Mr .MALANJI and Mr. LUSAMBO filed the appeals in the Constitutional Court after the High Court dismissed their petitions last year.
The two were not on the ballots for the Kwacha and Kabushi Parliamentary by-elections as the Electoral Commission of Zambia-ECZ- had in August 2022 rejected their nomination papers.
This followed the nullification of their election results for the August 2021 General Election.