Ndola High Court Judge Mwiinde Siavwapa yesterday granted an application by two High ?Court judges to commence judicial review challenging the legality of the tribunal constituted to probe their alleged professional misconduct.
This would also act as a stay of the tribunal proceedings which were scheduled to start on June 18, 2013.
In his ruling delivered around 11:00 hours in chambers in Ndola yesterday, Mr Justice Siavwapa granted Justices Nigel Mutuna and Charles Kajimanga leave to commence judicial review after hearing their application and the State’s response.
Mr Justice Siavwapa said the same would operate as a stay of the pending tribunal whose preparations have reached an advanced stage.This means the tribunal which was scheduled to commence sitting had been halted until further determination of the matter.
The two Lusaka judges are now seeking judicial review challenging the legality of the tribunal set up by President Michael Sata to probe the duo, together with Supreme Court Judge Philip Musonda for the alleged misconduct.
Lusaka High Court judge-in-charge, Jane Kabuka had allocated the matter to the Ndola High Court judge after Mr justices Mutuna and Kajimanga on May 20, 2013 applied to be granted leave to apply for judicial review challenging the legality of the tribunal.
Ms Justice Kabuka first allocated the matter to Ndola-based Judge, Timothy Katenekwa who recused himself.Mr Justice Siavwapa commenced the proceedings yesterday and passed the said ruling.
Mr Justices Mutuna and Kajimanga had contended that the tribunal should not be allowed to sit because it had no legal framework consistent with their constitutional rights.
The action by the two judges followed a majority judgment delivered by acting Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda on May 9, this year that Mr Sata did not abuse his constitutional powers to suspend the judges.
Mr Justices Mutuna and Kajimanga had contended that the tribunal in question defies the rule of natural justice and was a violation of their constitutional rights.
The duo has alleged that the tribunal had failed to give them adequate notice of its proceedings to enable them prepare adequately and exercise their constitutional rights during the hearings
The three Judges Mutuna, Kajimanga and Musonda had immediately after being suspended by Mr Sata last year filed an application before the Lusaka High court challenging their suspension and the pending establishment of the tribunal to probe them.
High Court Judge Fulgeance Chisanga granted them the application which also operated as a stay of the proceedings.
But Attorney General, Mumba Malila who was not happy with the Ms Justice Chisanga’s ruling appealed to the Supreme Court against the whole ruling.
About three weeks ago, the Supreme Court overturned the High Court’s verdict on grounds that Mr Sata was within his powers to suspend and probe the three judges but advised against going ahead.
These judges are truely hiding something….
Its once again holiday time in paradise for Chipoka!!! chikopa enjoy your holiday!!! and use the money from subsidies,, its free!!!! hahahahahahah
When will this merry go round finish? Looks like we definitely need judicial reforms so that will provide that critical cases can be heard and resolved quickly in national interest. All this side screen shouldn’t detract from the fact that Nchito and Mmembe through Zambia Airways still owe over K14Billions to DBZ that still hasn’t been paid.
They are not hiding anything.They know the tribunal is going to be impartial looking at the characters involved.Chikopo is a close mate of Sata,membe and Nchito are close friends of sata.You have to be a very good fool to subject yourself to the judgement of such characters.
These judges are taking us for a ride and are abusing the courts. The last kicks of a dying horse. We will sort you out very soon.
This is a total disregard of our own constitutional law, i have said here before that the laws in Zambia are fake. However if these 3 judges are innocent why are they afraid to face the tribunal appointed by the president who acted within his presidential powers granted by constitutional law to form tribunal to investigate any suspected behavior by any one within the 3 arms of government. With this kid of lawyers and judges we have pa zed naine Teti ba nkake pa zed kanofwe ngawalipwalala.
Even if they were hiding something, its within their constitutional rights to bring up such challenges in court.
Its up to govt to challenge that decision by appealing to the supreme court
This is just how the wheels of justice turn, sloww but real
Fact 1 The president and his office are not above the constitution which he swore to protect, yet in this particular case chose on purpose to disregard.
Everyone who read the deliberate Judgement on this case by the acting chief Justice knew that instead of her telling the president the truth she told a lie, if indeed the president was within his powers why advise him not to go a head with the tribunal because of “constitutional matters” if you do care can you tell what me what these constitutional matters are?
These Judges should fight and fight some more we want to see Judges who respect the president but are not afraid of him
We all accept that he is our president what we do not accept is his total disregard of the constitution and the Judiciary
Sir, the constitution provides a mechanism for which the president can call for a tribunal. Complaints have to be presented to the Chief Justice, who submits the complaints to the Judicial Review Board. Based on the merits of the complaints this board then recommends for a tribunal or not to the Chief Justice who advises the president whether to go ahead or not. This process was not followed. All because the president is very powerful and also the people whom these judges ruled against are the presidents “friends”. Whether one has something to hide or not, there is a process to be followed otherwise why have processes if they are going to be breached at will. Whether President or not, we are all bound under the constitution. Period!
Man don’t misuse words, HOW CAN THEY BE “AFRAID”, IF THEY ARE CHALLENGING ONE WHO THINKS HE CAN THROW HIS WEIGHT ABOUT JUST BECOZ HE IS PRESIDO!!!!
Mudala , ala wila ponta!!!! After one lap on a “Kampelwa”, you will be crying for your forefathers to come & rescue you – “ati naine teti ba nkake!!”
well, it has been some time since i comment on this blog mainly due to vulgarity of some bloggers. i hope that on this topic we will all debate the topic at hand not personalities.
coming to this issue, i think the three judges are really trying hard to shield themselves from the tribunal. its common knowledge that these judges are indeed afraid of something and only them know it. if they are really innocent why cant they just let the tribunal sit and prove themselves since they have faith in the judiciary that they are part of. the reasons they are giving now, to me, they sound like some sort of a desperate measure to try hide from the this tribunal.
well, that’s my opinion…..
I think the DPP and M’membe kwows what judges are trying to tell the nation-the K14BILLION.
They have REPUTATIONS TO PRESERVE, they went to School & Univ & slogged their way up the ranks – they are not like poiliticians, who basically don’t really have to see the insides of a classroom to make it – all they have to do is CONVINCE A MAJORITY PERCENTAGE OF OUR ILLITERATE MASSES, that these same politicians have created by Killing off our educational system!!! So how dare you say they have something to hide – yet PROCEDURE TO BRING THEM TO BOOK, HAS BEEN TRUNDLED UPON SO DISGRACEFULLY!!!
Meant ” TRAMPLED SO DISGRACEFULLY!!
this is juicy nintemwa! @ 1 Musokanjinga there is nothing the judges are hiding, didn’t you hear what LAZ said that it was within their constitutional rights to proceed as they did. Let President Joyce Banda ask her citizen one Lovemore Chikopa to return to Malawi immmediately.
no one is disputing the fact that they have a constitutional right to challenge the tribunal but the way they have done it clearly shows that they are afraid of something. just like RB is trying hard to be relevant. these judges were used by RB to fix his enemies. some of us have not forgotten what RB used to say about the post not to mention that i have actually read the judgement the these judges passed and believe me you, these will be found wanting if the tribunal will ever be allowed to sit.
i just hope that our judiciary will dispose this case as fast as possible in order to save us from wasting more money.
This Language is not easy for some of us to understand….Lawyers pls put it in the easiest English language for us to comment rationally…
Chilufya Mumembe, there will be no breach because Judge Chikopa will have been paid for the time he has luxuriously spent here in Zambia. Based on the SADC/COMMONWEALTH/UN or other protocols as will be applicable, a precedent should be there to follow on the rate of payment. You all seem to miss the point that arguments for the tribunal are meant to deflect attention from the core issue of DBZ’s debt recovery. Judicial procedure for transfering cases from one judge to another is neither here nor there as they will normally practice some informality sometimes for formalization later. How many times have govt(s) over run the budget only to apply to parliament for supplementary expenditure approval later? Within the Judiciary, there will likely be specialization as you have in medicine for in
Chilufya Mumembe, there will be no breach because Judge Chikopa will have been paid for the time he has luxuriously spent here in Zambia. Based on the SADC/COMMONWEALTH/UN or other protocols as will be applicable, a precedent should be there to follow on the rate of payment. You all seem to miss the point that arguments for the tribunal are meant to deflect attention from the core issue of DBZ’s debt recovery. Judicial procedure for transfering cases from one judge to another is neither here nor there as they will normally practice some informality sometimes for formalization later. How many times have govt(s) over run the budget only to apply to parliament for supplementary expenditure approval later? Within the Judiciary, there will likely be specialization as you have in medicine for…
Within the Judiciary, there will likely be specialization as you have in medicine for instance. Judge Mutuna was most likely assigned the DBZ case on account of his recognized authority on commercial law owing to his vast experience in the banking and financial services sector where he served for a long time prior to being appointed to the bench. Other judges will normally preside over cases based on their recognized authorities too. Do you punish judges on account of their specialization? A bit like punishing doctors for consulting and referring cases to each other based on specialization and nature of illness. If you’re going to accuse them of impropriety then prove first of all that the plaintiff, DBZ a govt bank, exerted undue influence or bribed the bench to act in the manner they…
Where is Mushota mwe bantu. I dont see comments from that blogger anymore.
@moon yellow that blogger Mushota is pregnant, she was just seeking attention so that someone can knock her up, she has no more reason to blog.
Oh, sweet… you miss me.
Thanks
@moon yellow..
There are some many mushotas with strange flags coming through these days and you people are being fooled… the real mushta should be from scotland,,, these other ` twets` like the one above are cheap impersonators!!!!
So this case was in Ndola? I should have been there when the grant to stay the tribunal/proceedings jury bla bla bla was beign granted. The fact is this case is too technical and we may miss some technicalities as laymen. If the Judges are wrong why are they allowed to challenge the legality of the tribunal? It means they have the valid case here! The president in my opinion is somehow not wright coz even his Chief Justice advised him not to proceed with the tribunal, he has defied that advice and hence this case may never end. Judges pa bench support one another mind u!!!!!
It is good that these judges have decided to go down fighting and not allow anyone to trample on their constitutional rights. Tyranny should no longer be tolerated in Zambia. Wole Soyinka in his book, The Man Died, clearly shows that one is as good as dead if he/she keeps quiet in the face of oppression and tyranny. Many people see the Chikopa Tribunal as an exercise in oppressing judges who did not rule in favour of friends to the powers that be. Since there are no shortcuts in law the judges have a right to exhaust the whole procedure. One may even ask why the Judicial Complaints Commission was not tasked with handling the complaints of the two friends to the….
Ex-Zedi
it is fair to say that there is no indication as to which way the ruling is going. After all, the case at hand has not yet commenced.
It is heartening to note justice being exercised by our judiciary. The downside to all this circus is that the matter at which it was supposed to sort out has still not been resolved. Another detriment to all this is that judge Chikopa continues to draw his allowances and other benefits unless President Sata withdraws this tribunal and uses our Zambian judiciary. After all, President Sata has now installed his own people in all key strategic positions. Two years is long enough for any sharp individual to settle down.
The same people Sata is playing simple childish games, one day he will be at their mercy. Sata ask Rupiah how the citizens quickly!
The Sun is shining on Chikopo! Maybe he is the one coniving with the accused to delay the tribunal after realising its not an issue then share the spoils! Just abandon this nonsense!
The President should have had constituted a Commission of Inquiry that would have holistically looked at reforms in the Judicially instead of selectively targeting individual judges.
The Supreme Court Justice in her disjointed ruling did clearly state without any ambiguity that It will be advisable for the state not to commence with the tribunal due to constitutional issues that surrounded the matter. The govt went ahead to announce the commencement of the tribunal in spite of the advice from the supreme court. The Judges have right to seek a judicial review so that uncleared constitutional matters raised by the Chief Justice in her disjointed ruling could be clarified.
Really these guys were corrupt chaps and those granting them a review knows thier sins.watch out zambians! resources are urs . sata needs to be support from all zambians.why runing up and down, one day you ll be cornered . days are numbered.
How much money has so far been wasted on the Malawian Chikopa?
Let the President retire these judges in national interest and investigate them immediately after the pronouncement. They cannot hold the nation to ramsom using their cohorts. Twanaka nelyashi ili. Finshi balefisa ba mambala.
May be your statement should read “let the president retire these judges in Mmembe’s and Nchito’s interest…” The judges are not holding the nation to ransom, as you claim. They are merely defending their rights. Remember that the two judges are not Bembas and so the have a reason to fight. Does it not surprise you that the third judge, a Bemba, is quiet. There might be behind the scenes negotiations with him. You can only trust this Bemba regime, if you are not a Bemba, at your own peril.
Those judges are not holding the nation at ramsom,, but they are talking on sata punch for punch
What is the use of Judicial Complaint Authority?
Whether the judges have something to hide or not is immaterial. The gist of the matter is for the president to understand that he has to follow laid down procedures when taking action on any subject matter. More important is for him to know that he is not above the law and that his actions can be challenged. Remember, this can happen to anybody else.
The judges are being persecuted coz they ordered Mmembe and nchito to pay back DBZ loan.
Total lies mutuna never worked for or in any bank
Yes he did. He worked for Zambia National Building Society – a financial institution.
Its good that the Judges have decided to fight this mediocrity to the bitter end!
Judge Chikopa was being fattened with tax payers money even when nothing was happening he can’t be impartial. Should the tribunal go ahead, the outcome is already pre-determined. It will be in favour of Mmembe and Nchito!
Their Constitutional Right being: “Complaints against them , should be presented to the Judicial Complaints Authority (JCA), which then advises the Chief Justice , who then recommends to the President to call for the Tribunal!!!!” No monkey tricks like cosying up with the president, who then thinks he can bypass this process – & then subject Judges to kangaroo courts!!!!
The sadness in all this is that the Supreme Court has found itself mired in this case becoz it was led by an “Acting” CJ. Miserably misinterpreted the Constitution. By arguing that it’s in the Presido’s right to call for a Tribunal without following procedure, is like saying if presido, being commander in chief one morning on a whim says we invade Congo, he is right – No! There are processes……..
……to be followed, like he has to convene cabinet, show reason why!!!
All complaints about Judges should be presented to JCA – the only recognised body! JCA then looks into the merits of the case, if there is some reasonable cause, JCA the reports to the CJ (Not pseudo CJ!!), who then considering that advice recommends to Presido to CALL for the Tribunal!! So this CASE IS GOING NOWHERE!!!
THE CONSTITUTION GIVES THESE JUDGES PROTECTION, in that Vindictive complaints wont pass without scrutiny! So cosying up with the presido & misinforming him that he can pull this trigger is really dumb!!! Our Supreme Court has been disgraced!!