You are “WRONG”,Supreme Court tell Lusaka High judge who denied Chirundu Independent case against ECZ, Attorney General to be heard.
The Supreme Court of Zambia has ruled that citizens can challenge the Electoral Commission of Zambia, ECZ, through constitutional petitions under Article 28(1), and not only through electoral nomination petitions.
In a unanimous judgement delivered on 26th June 2026, a three-judge bench led by Justice N.K. Mutuna set aside a High Court dismissal and ordered the case of Wilfred Mweene v Attorney General and ECZ to be heard on merit.
The Case
Mr. Wilfred Mweene, an independent candidate in Chirundu, filed a petition in the High Court on 1st June 2025.
He alleged that ECZ and the State had violated his constitutional rights to life, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, protected under Articles 13, 20 and 21 of the Bill of Rights.
The High Court, however, declined jurisdiction. The Judge held that the matter should have been brought as a nomination petition under electoral law, not as a Bill of Rights petition.
The court dismissed the case without hearing arguments on whether the rights were actually infringed.
Supreme Court: Wrong Route Finding Was an Error
Mweene appealed to the Supreme Court on three grounds, including that the High Court was wrong to demand a nomination petition and that it dismissed the case without giving parties a chance to be heard.
Delivering judgement, Justice Mutuna, with Justices F.M. Chisanga and B.A. Sitali concurring, found that the High Court misdirected itself.
The petition, which alleged the infringement of rights under Articles 13, 20 and 21 of the Bill of Rights, was properly conceived as a petition under the Bill of Rights in line with Article 28(1) of the Constitution, the Court stated.
The bench also faulted the High Court for raising the issue of competence on its own motion, at a scheduling conference and without inviting the parties to address him on it.
The Order
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal with costs to Mweene.
It set aside the High Court ruling and remitted the matter back to the High Court for an expedited hearing of the Article 28(1) petition.
Crucially, the Court directed that the hearing must be before a different judge and through the Principal Registry, not the Election Petition Registry.
The Attorney General was represented by Mrs. B. Muleya Kamuwanga, Principal State Advocate. ECZ was represented by Mr. A. Musoka, Legal Counsel. Mweene was represented by Mr. A.J. Shonga, Jr. SC and Mr. N. Ngandu of Shamwana and Company.
The matter now returns to the High Court for a full hearing on whether Mweene’s rights under Articles 13, 20 and 21 were indeed violated.
DAILY VOICE Zambia
You are “WRONG”,Supreme Court tell Lusaka High judge who denied Chirundu Independent case against ECZ, Attorney General to be heard.
