ECL´s recusal request rejected by JCC
…Vincent Malamba refers Lungu to the same judges he complained against
26th Sept 2024
From Close Correspondents
In a legally startling move, Vincent Malambo, the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC) chief has refused to hear a complaint against three judges Sixth of Zambia President Edgar Lungu wants recused from his eligibility case for fear of ´bias`.
Mr. Lungu contends in a letter on 25th September to the JCC that Constitutional Court president M. Munalula, A. Shilimi and Mapani Kawimbe cannot be trusted to pass ´fair judgement´ on him because they are ´conflicted´ due to their close relationship to President Hichilema.
One of the Judges, Mapani Kawimbe is a blood relationship of Mr Hichilema while Munalula and Shilimi are ´close personal friends´ of the current President said Mr. Lungu.
In a double faced unseen move in the history of jurisprudence in Zambia, however, Malambo, supersonic speed advised President Lungu to take his complaint to the same court headed by Munalula to hear his case.
What is strange is recently, the same Malambo headed JCC heard a similar case against three Concourt Judges Palan Mulonda, Anne Sitali and Mulenga Mungeni in a case against the Sixth President Edgar Lungu.
Malambo’s ´double faced´ treacherous decision has shocked legal pundits that feel the judiciary is skewed towards judges friendly to Mr. Hichilema such as Munalula and against those that rejected the Presidents petition in 2016 such as Mulonda, Sitali and Mungeni.
It is feared that the JCC is keen to render Mr Lungu ´not legible´ to seek re election in 2026 for fear that he is likely to defeat Mr. Hichilema.
President Hichilema has since suspended Mulonda, Sitali and Mungeni that rejected his 2016 petition in a move largely seen as revenge.
ECL´s recusal request rejected by JCC…Vincent Malamba refers Lungu to the same judges he complained against
