Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) has written to the Electoral Commission of Zambia questioning why the Commission has continued to allow candidates whose elections as Members of Parliament have been nullified by the Courts on account of electoral corruption to re-contest their seats.
TIZ Executive Director Goodwell Lungu in his letter to the ECZ Chairperson dated 23rd July, 2013, obtained by QFM News explained that Section 22 of the Electoral Act of 2006 states that an aspiring candidate convicted of any corrupt practice or illegal practice or who is reported guilty of any corrupt practice as determined by the Supreme or High Courts shall not be qualified for election as a member of the national assembly.
Mr Lungu said TIZ has noted that the Electoral Commission of Zambia and the courts of law have remained silent regarding the application of section 22 of the electoral Act of 2006.
He noted that a number of parliamentary elections have been nullified on account of corruption but that the same candidates have re-contested the same seats and the Electoral Commission of Zambia has not disqualified such candidates in line with section 22 of the Electoral Act No.12 of 2006.
He stated that the Act stipulates that seats nullified on account of corruption warrant that a particular candidate of parliamentarian ought to be disqualified from further standing for a period of five years.
Mr Lungu said the ECZ’s silence on the issue is a serious anomaly which the elections body should consider addressing so that it is not seen to be allowing corruption continue to thrive in electoral process.
[QFM]
hahahahah more drama
The wheels of the state machinery have started looking for ways to mess ECZ.Maybe for starters Zambians need an explanation why its okey for the government to disobey the court orders,why its okey for Sata to go against the constitution in a number os issues,why the Police are being used to persecute the opposition in our multi-party democracy?
This can’t happen – Look again at the statement
“Section 22 of the Electoral Act of 2006 states that an aspiring candidate convicted of any corrupt practice or illegal practice or who is reported guilty of any corrupt practice”
In short, a candidate has to be convicted or reported guilty. The courts have not convicted any of the candidates. It will be very difficult for ECZ to disqualify them. Technically, the courts have been making rulings on the “election process”, and not convicting individuals (no one has been found guilty).
Hence this can’t work, as candidates will just go back to court and ask the courts to determine whether they are personally guilty or not – which is a different ball game.
Indeed @me, that is where ACC has to come in and probe the individuals involved and prosecute them
@exmoma, thats the thinking of a half backed stone thrower UNZA graduate. Where are the double standards technocrats, LAZ and NGOs?
Electoral Act of 2006 states that an aspiring candidate convicted of any corrupt practice or illegal practice or who is reported guilty of any corrupt practice as determined by the Supreme or High Courts shall not be qualified for election as a member of the national assembly.
The key words are “convicted” and “reported guilty”. The High court has to interpret if the MP whose seats have been nullified are “convicted” or “reported guilty”.
you are spot on my brother. chizungu to some people, even those who claim to have been to school like lungu, can not interpret the simple key word, convicted. when the seat is nullified does it mean they have been convicted?.use your brains lungu not your stomach
People should understand the implications of a High Court or Supreme Court ruling to uphold claims of corruption. Basically that means that a Court of Law is satisfied that an aspiring candidate was involved or fully aware of the corrupt activities going on during campaigns. And if a Court of Law delivers such finding then how does it fail to “fit” into the ECZ Act of 2006? A ruling of the High or Supreme Court can be relied upon when interpreting “Reported Guilty” and unless the Act was specific on conviction alone, then TIZ is on firm ground to ask the questions. Besides, even the ACC would simply rely on the Court rulings as their evidence in which case it becomes a rubber stamping exercise. Howelse can a court not find someone Guilty if they it already nullified a seat on the same
Is that a lawyer or a kaponya behind Goodwell. Why kunyonga mulomo like that? Phew!!!
Spot on,convicted the answer in No and reported guilty ,again the is No.but proven that they were same elements of corruption,Yes.reported guilty is a report but no facts beyond reasonably doubt.convicted in this case is ambiguous,as it mean serving a jail term,or barred for 5 years as claimed by mr lungu.
useless statements,TIZ SHOULD SHALT UP THIER STICK MOUTHS,WHATS WRONG WITH RECONTESTING. SOME NULLIFIED SITS WERE DULLY ELECTED,BUT PF FORCELY NULLIFY THROUGH HIRED JUDGE.
I FYABUPUBA OKO.
Mr Lungu, when a player on a football pitch is redcarded for not adhering to the rules of the game he is not banned for life from football.Nullification is a form of punishment to make them reform.Its not a life sentence !
spon on..u seem to contradict yoself..a redcarded player will not be allowed to play for atleast 2 matches..remember zambia was awarded 3 points against sudan..in this case to be found guilt is as gud as being convicted..a petition is a high profile case closer to a crime case..the article is very clear..once a seat is nullified candidates shud re supposed not to recontest..its clear!
I am not a lawyer but i think if TIZ Lungu is being advised by some lawyer, then that lawyer needs some refresher course or TIZ should hire someone else. The act is very clear.
hehehe maxwell mwale chingadi lol
PF have are worried of MAXWELL MWALE @ DORA THAT THEY WILL WIPE THE IN THE BYE-ELECTIONS……………..
Mr Lungu, just because Mr Phiri won in Chipata you have started raising dust. Also you are gunning for Mr Maxwell Mwale.
Lungu should also remind ECZ to disqualify or refer candidates and their political parties for possible prosecution if found abrogating the electoral code.We know you Lungu as a PF sympathizer you are uncomfortable with the tiding turning against your party PF in the recent just ended by elections.
Now there have seen that by-elections are not favoring them ka.Yaa……. a lungu na PF manje muzachiona.
I honestly don’t agree with this thug in the name of TIZ Executive Director Goodwell Lungu, BUT what Lungu is saying TRUE though he thinks he is supporting PF since they lost the recent elections.
TIZ Executive Director Goodwell Lungu SHOULD HAVE RAISED THIS ISSUE WHEN criminals like Gabriel Namulambe & Masumbe were re contesting their Parliamentary seats.
Zambians don’t criminals like Gabriel Namulambe, Masumba, Judge Ngoma (who recently fired guns in Chipata) & Maxwell Mwale to re-contest Parliamentary seats so that they continue stealing our money.
If Sata & his dull PF had known like the way Levy Mwanawasa did, they were not even supposedly embrace criminals like Namulambe & Masumba.
UPND is now doing the same mistakes PF has made, they have embraced Maxwell Mwale!
spot on!!!! why demand the application of that law now??? is it because PF has been caught offside panties down in the just ended bye elections?????
Hold yo fire yo references in this case never lost..read through the article once more..
masumba… stole a diploma, his case was only `soften` when he crossed floor to PF but his case is still in court the same goes for namulambe. So dont read and apply the law with one eye for some people and both eyes for others
I never knew that TIZ can’t read. All along I thought that this NGO was run by clever people but alas, they are just daft!
When a court nullifies elections on the basis of electoral malpractice, it is not convicting the defendant. How simpler can this be?
The average intellectual capacity of Zambia has terribly deteriorated over the years. Now the dimness virus is in NGOs. God help us!
poverty can reduce intellectuals to useful beggers
lose a petition is as gud as being convicted…report the article once more..to help u there are 2 conditions to be “convicted” or to be “reported guilt”…let law be applied chapwa!
If you cannot READ the law, you must be pitied. The petitioner petitions the sentence that says ‘duly elected.’ If the petitioner was accusing someone of corruption, there is another agency that they should complain to.
When a seta is nullified usually it is as a result of mulpractices or undue advantage. TIZ must tell us whether a court can convict a candidate for distributing food, cash or indeed any other gifts to woo votes. Now TIZ must tell us whether the MPs whose seats are nullified are convicts.
This can’t happen – Look again at the statement
“Section 22 of the Electoral Act of 2006 states that an aspiring candidate convicted of any corrupt practice or illegal practice or who is reported guilty of any corrupt practice”
In short, a candidate has to be convicted or reported guilty. The courts have not convicted any of the candidates. It will be very difficult for ECZ to disqualify them. Technically, the courts have been making rulings on the “election process”, and not convicting individuals (no one has been found guilty).
Hence this can’t work, as candidates will just go back to court and ask the courts to determine whether they are personally guilty or not – which is a different ball game.
but reported guilt
The electrol ACT uses the words ” convicted” and “reported guilty” Firstly, one may be convicted of corrupt practices in a court of law – that is clear. Secondly, one may be reported guilty of corrupt malpractices – for example when the judge pronounces that he/she is nullifying the election to a particular parliamentary seat on account of the fact that the one who won engaged in such practices (and they influenced the outcome) Read some of the judgements that have been made. The judge clearly states that the nullification is due to corruption. So such person is being reported as guilty of the same. The sanction is that they should stay away from contesting for the next five years. Why should they have their cake and eat it, in any case? I think Lungu is right.
Are these the opinion leaders in Zambia? Badwell Lungu,The Chipata seat bitterness
Mr Lungu sure,that can only happen if the ACC takes upon those cases to court and when the court find them guilt,then the article you quoted can apply
You will all get suprised when turns out the other way.May be ECZ didnt realise this just like they are enforcing other codes which two years ago were not an ussue.Wait for the right time.THIS IS ECZ we are talking about.
Drama & Action, spiced with a bit of comedy,,, my lovely zambia!!!!
Its a weak case
Please give me some poropcons, and record the other top-news on PVR will watch it tomorrow… pa zed its all action!!!! but progress awee sure its eluding us, nichani?
Lungu is right. That’s why in this part of the world corrupt pipo keep on thriving bcoz they are allowed to enjoy the root and move fleely.Even common sense can tell u that in such cases there must b a corrupt person. That 1 mst be punished.
I think this issue should not have anything to do with who won or lost the last parly bye-elections. I am a critic of the PF govt. but think the article in question requires objective analysis. I don’t think a person whose election is nullified on the grounds of his or his agents corruption and in his presence, should be allowed to re-contest the bye-election that follows. If the judge states corruption as the ground for the same, that is enough for me. He/she has reported it – unless we are saying this has to be specifically put in writing and some procedure followed blur..blur..blur. The judges pronouncement should be ‘enough’ reporting.
What you think doesn’t matter – not at all. Immaterial. Only what the law says matters.
Lol ! Very un objective Zambians indeed. The day Lungu will seem to be on the side of opo he’ll b declared St Lungu. lyoo, mulituyanga twinitwini
this is misguided thinking interpretation of section 22. Electoral Petitions are Civil matters that do not provide for a guilty verdict or conviction but just provides for equity at law for the aggrieved party. For any one to be stopped from recontesting the seat they must be convicted via a prosecution at criminal law with them having rights to appeal up to the Supreme Court until they lose the case . Not what Lungu is saying at face value.
We have a justice minister who is supposed be a “Lawyer” by qualification and all this time they have been allowing MPs candidates who have been disqualified on account of Electoral malpractice to continue as long as they follow the PFs un clear or unknown policies if they are there at all. Now guns are blazing because they lost three contested seats. We are in for a rude awakening with this party that some people CNP. I can assure you, they have a plan, except that the plan is an evil one, which has lead to so much wastage of our meager financial resources on useless by-elections which are now backfiring.
Worse than wasting meager resources, I’m sure the most sinister part of the “plan” is to wait for PF to have a super-majority in Parliament to announce the new constitution so they can push through whatever they want unopposed.
How can “proof reading” possibly take six months, and how many more seats do PF need? Surely the failure to grab three seats last week was a major setback so now they are scrambling…… guns a blazing as you say!
In this country why are the corrupt allowed to move fleely while they enjoy the products of their evil?The President has the will to fight it but de general public re a let down. In Zed corruption is a way of life.from a man on de streets 2 de top
So the judge is supposed to nullify a seat and fines the accused or sends to him to prison ?
Lungu is just worried that we will end up with law makers who have a corruption tag. How then do we fight corruption. Let us go beyond parties which come and go.
You fool TIZ ,have you been told what to say by the dull justice minister.PF should start with Masumba and Namulambe ,they re just scared that they will be walloped by Dora and Mwale.TIZ we mbwa we Lungu just tell yo paymasters that pipo re educated .
While I agree with the the points made by TIZ i wish to underscore this; the organization, and its staff are foreign agents ; The extent to which they are allowed into Zambian courts and,indeed our domestics politics simply shows how much civic education is still required for Zambians to arrive at a Constitution which will “stand the test of time”. The political fight, on matters as domestic as this one can be, should be left to Zambians.
Rather than play funny-buggers with the law on behalf of PF, wouldn’t it be nice if TIZ simply took the position that the will of voters should be respected?
@23 U A PATHOLOGICAL LIE .WHO IS DAT DISQUALIFIED MP PF HAS ALLOWED?IS ITN’T IT IN MMD ND UPND U’VE A BUNCH OF DEM?IT IS DIS KIND OF EVIL MINDS WE MUST DETEST IN OUR POLITICS. LUNGU IS RIGHT. ONLY DAT ECZ IS STILL RUN BY STOOGES ND CROOKS OF RB/MMD.
Don’t look at wat lungu has said based on the last’s weeks by elections.When u support a piece of law bcoz it suits u ,u a useless being.Y are u allowing malpratice to continue?
My Goodness! This country is rotten with some pipo who are rotten in their brains .Dey fail 2 c wat lungu has rised which z a non partizan stance. I urgy pf 2 raise up & defend watever u are doing dis id iots don’t mean well. 2 dem everyding z bad.
TIZ
even a fool can understand what this section is talking about. is it the candidate that practiced those suspected corrupt activities or it was the party/cadres doing it for the candidate? has the candidate been found guilty or its the the campaign process that has been cited!!!??? use brains please and leave ECZ alone, otherwise, WE THE PEOPLE WILL RISE UP!
Iwe Lungu, fyabupuba fye ulelanda.Nyala yakonyokola.
At the end of the day, Zambia and the opposition still lose. Lungu is right but the law he is citing needs amendment or ACC should pick it up following nullification. This is the reason why there are so many bad seeds in our political system. Some of them were supposed to be trashed a long time ago. Now see they see the opposition becoming strong, there are jumping boats eyeing govt jobs in 2016.
We keep talking of the youths being leaders of tomorrow but look our system has a lot of garbage because of these same poor instruments.
Hahaha, Ndobo you say ati “PF caught offside with panties down” Well,i guess thats what evil PF has been using to lure its prey.
Lungu looking for a job….shame on you! The tide is turning slowly but surely. No monkey tricks from Kamimbya and Ukwa will stop the momentum they are starting to fear.
Me that’s a very intelligent point u have made there
I we ka BADWELL LUNGU ****** yamuntu. Ifingi nshalande swine. First I cool off. Ndekusebanya Leo together with the person using u *****.
Insala kapondo ilaponona takwaba ati walipompa NA suit. A lungu
This is a weak case, first of all the top lady is illegally occupying the position, next elections have been nullified with no proper reasons why but some corruption, ACC
Has just taken these cases
Stupid *****s targeting Dora Siliyta. Why has these call become more pronounced just after the nulification of Petauke and Muloibezi seats? Beside, who trust the courts that are presheaded by a corrupt Auntie to Sata? Correction of many issues whould start with the Acting CJ herself vacating that honourable office as she in not honourable herself. Then we can be sure of justice!
Yes indeed,scared of DORA SILIYA. First it was ACC who said that they will investigate electoral malpractices in nullified seats. Now,a useful *****( to PF) petitions the ECZ.! When you look at the reasons advanced in nullifying the Petauke Seat,you will indeed shed tears!! One of the reason is that Dora told the electorate that if the voted for PF,the Fertiliser Input Support Programme will be stopped!! According to the Supreme Court this disadvantaged the PF!! Is this corruption??
T-tiyeni
I-ipanduke
Z-zambia.
people seem not to understand their own constitution…Lungu is not wrong in anyway..all he has done is to point at a law which ECZ seem to have neglected…in any case all of us shud be custodians of the laws of zambia..He has raised an issue from the legal point of view and it is clear and staright forward..any one disputing this article shud refer to the law constitution..thats all…if we just talk all of us are diluted with politics..the fact that we vote and contribute to political debates we are political beings except for watchtower believers..inform the public why u re disputing and which legal framework supports yo idea chapwa..than bla bla bla bla bla bla
You cant reason with thugs these people can steal oppress people all the want but the ll always be kaponyas unschooled uncultured dull lost mad cow baboons
Kikiki. Interpretation of the law here so interesting people.
TIZ is another hired gun to attack ECZ. Lungu shud have sought for the interpretation of the law then accuse ECZ. Has PF hired him because they are afraid of Dora? Tiye nayo
TIZ and LUNGU, SATA has bonked and sired a lot of bush illegitimate Children outside WEDLOCK which is a case in itself.
SO TIZ and GOODWELL it means SATA must vacate the presidency seat.
Foolu – stop.
No one is convicted when a seat is nullified. Convicting a person is another process which takes long by itself. No person is on trial when an election is petitioned. Therefore, Badwell Lungu shud tell Kabimba that his plan has backfired. Leave ECZ and Mambilima alone. She is a judge and a Chief Justice that never was because of wicked you. TIZ has no credibility to talk about this when they have never written da President on ACJ. Ask da President why he has failed to apply the law on ACJ? To simply things for the heavy headed TIZ’s Lungu , if Dora is the target and ACC takes her case seriously, she will not be convicted by the time of bye elections. Therefore, she qualifies to stand
Indeed all corrupt guyz should be stopped. Actually the article says” any corrupt act” This does not just mean electoral corruption. It means any corrupt act such as stealing a Diploma, money from DBZ, electoral corruption and list is endless. Actually all those who are serving MPs but have behind them these issues should be nullified. How honestly should we allow some corrupt guyz and allow others. Why not just allow all of them or disqualify all of them?
or illegal practice…………………but if these guys are not guilty of the offence why are the seats nulified………….its coz they were practicing ilegally…………
In my humble opinion, the wording of section 22 is ambiguous at best. I would suggest wording to the effect that “any person whose election is nullified by any court of law for reasons of electoral malpractice, bribery or corruption etc …shall not be eligible to re-contest the seat or any other parliamentary seat for a specified period of time..” In this way, you do away with the burden of proving that the candidate themselves were responsible for the corruption or malpractice, which in our current political climate would be onerous. At the same time, you underscore the responsibility of the candidate to be diligent about the conduct of their campaign and that of their sponsors and supporters.
BADWEL LUNGU IS JUST A PF CADRE, THEY FEAR MAXWEL MWALE AND DORA SILIYA, WHY RAISING SUCH ISSUES NOW LEAVING THOSE MPs WHO CAUSE USELESS BY-ELECTIONS TO BAR THEM FROM RECONTESTING THE SAME SIT. IT IS JUST BCOZ THEY ARE JOINING PF. MIND YOU EVERYTHING HAS GOT ITS TIME