Thursday, March 28, 2024

Petition to Postpone the 2016 Presidential Elections dismissed by Lusaka High Court

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HIgh Court
HIgh Court

LUSAKA High Court Justice Florence Lengalenga has dismissed the petition challenging the constitutionality of holding the 2016 presidential elections as well as determining President Edgar Lungu’s tenure of office after the January 20 2015 election.

And spokesperson for the petitioners, Zambia Republican Party president Wright Musoma says they would not sit and watch the Republican Constitution being abrogated due to failure to interpret appropriate clauses, as they have already instructed their lawyers to appeal to the Supreme Court.

This is in a matter in which Richard Mumba, Simemeza Syachoke and Mr Musoma petitioned the Attorney General for the determination of a presidential tenure of office following the incumbent’s sudden death.

The petitioners cited the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), the Attorney General and the 11 presidential candidates in the January 2015 presidential election as respondents, but later removed the candidates and retained the ECZ and the Attorney General.

The petitioners challenged the constitutionality of the 11 August 2016 presidential elections when President Lungu was still within his five-year tenure mandated by both the old Constitution and the newly assented to Constitution respectively.

Mr Musoma said while they respected the ruling of the High Court, they were already in the process of appealing to the Supreme Court.

“To us the judge erred because the petition was not heard, and based on the preliminaries given by those who joined the matter, she dismissed the petition.
“We have been treated unfairly. We are appealing because we are not satisfied with the ruling,” he said.

Mr Musoma explained that while the Ms Justice Lengalenga ruled that the petitioners lacked locus standi to bring the matter before court, he said every Zambian had the right to defend the Constitution when they felt the law of the land was being abrogated.

“Both the old and new Constitution states that when a President dies, his term ends. And that is why in Zambia, we do not hold presidential by-elections, and each presidential tenure has a five year mandate.

“So we already have a substantive President and there is no need to hold another presidential election 20 months into President Lungu’s five-year term,” he said.

Heritage Party president Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda joined the respondents against the petition, terming the applicants as President Lungu’s agents to defer the 2016 presidential election.

The petitioners requested the High Court to defer the 2016 presidential election to 2020 to allow President Lungu finish a five-year term of office as prescribed in the Republican Constitution.Cholera cases rise

25 COMMENTS

  1. “The petitioners requested the High Court to defer the 2016 presidential election to 2020 to allow President Lungu finish a five-year term of office as prescribed in the Republican Constitution.Cholera cases rise”

    LT, check the last paragraph; what has “Chorela cases rise” got to do with this story?

    • This man called Mr EC Lungu is extremely dangerous to democracy. He has been trying so hard to manipulate the constitution since the time he dribbled Miles Sampa for PF Presidential candidacy!! Im not an alarmist, but there are a number of controversial things that Lungu has done since the time he was fighting for PF candidacy.
      – He made Inonge Wina violet the PF constitution by holding a secrete meeting without the Chairman, who at that time was Dr Scott
      – He refused to resign from being Defense Minister even when he had applied as PF presidential candidate.
      – After being fired by Dr Scott, who was then the Acting Zambian President, Mr Lungu challenged the Zambian constitution and stated that Dr Scott had no Powers to fire him!!!
      – He then held a parallel meeting with some PF…

    • contd..
      – He then held a parallel meeting with some PF members at Mulungushi where he was “elected” as PF President by the show of hands, machetes and other weapons!!
      – Now he is yet again trying to manipulate the constitution to postpone elections till 2020!!!
      What a dictator!! What more evidence do you need? And some fake Prophet from Nigeria wants us to believe that Lungu has the Lord’s favour!! Which Lord? Those are prophecies inspired by demons. I know how dangerous it is to criticize prophecy, but then again I know what the Bible says are the Marks of a False Prophet like TB Joshua who is practicing spiritism/ancestral worship and witchcraft, same as this Isaac Amata and the Malawian false prophet, Bushiri. Tell me which part of their prophecies glorifies God!! You think…

    • Mr Intelligent.

      I follow your comments so well and I am beginning to see that you are surely intelligent. Surely Lungu is a snake writhing in the grass and yet unsuspecting people want to call him all eulogies. He is not as humble as people portray him.

      Surely he is the one behind this court case. Zambians are gullible, docile and dull and surely they follow all manner prophecy which is purely anti-Christ, demon derived and evil. This becomes their basis for decision making.

      I am scared at the rate we are moving in the wrong direction. Every person who stands on the podium and mentions the name of God, to them is a man of God. That is the deception that comes with declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation.

      The demons have taken over the churches more so Pentecostals and…

  2. LT makes these gaffes that would make the Duke of Edinburgh pale in comparison! Now we are left to do the memes. I suppose allowing a 2020 tenure expiry will wipe out the country’s seeing as in this very instant cholera cases have risen. By 2020 Cholera has exploded!!!!

  3. Cholera yaba nyokola now they want to involve all of us in their stupidty. Democracy nayo ni nchito mwee! Who’s paying for their legal fees anyway?

  4. E.lungu was just finishing Mr sata’s term. I think they are just fearing as things is not okey to them.Do you think the opposition or citizen will agree With this weaked manners, we are ready to vote. We don’t conflict, this is a christian country.

  5. Please leave Edgar alone as he is not part of this scam. The President has already announced the date for elections so please stop accusing him falsely.

    • @ Pio

      Of course “…he is not part of this scam…”. (!?!)
      Nevertheless, who is the sole beneficiary of it? HH, Nevers, Sampa….?

  6. The petitioners are correct. Read the constitution and argue from the law point of view not just being tribal for nothing.
    Suppose HH win in 2015, was he going to be finishing the dead man’s tenure? Even him would have refused that.

    • @ 1mbecile #9

      Now you have become constitutional lawyer? And if so, can you please clarify doctrine of “stare decisis” and its implication?

  7. F88lish petitioners. And one of them calls himself a president???? No wonder we wond develop if we vote for such trash of human beings

  8. Very good. Please, handover the presidency to Rupiah Banda to finish his remaining two years. The current president Lungu should take over in 2018 to finish his remaining three years nine months. The remaining three months excluded are those ruled by Scott on caretaker basis and he has not paid the presidential retirement package. Presidential Elections should come in May 2021.

  9. But it makes sense only that it’s coming late and it may prove hard for Lungu to win it. That shud have raised it sometime back and bringing it now whn elections are approaching makes pipo think u are afraid of the coming polls.

  10. From promoting this nonsense to promoting violence . This man Edgar Lungu will die unappreciated going by his tyrannical tendency…end up like Joseph Mobutu.

  11. God of mercy God of justice open these people ‘eyes guide them for mother Zambia not be like sudan or Angola.

  12. If Edgar Lungu wanted to rule five (5) years he would have allowed Guy Scott to complete the term and contest the Presidency in 2016. The truth of the matter is in Zambia we go for elections every after five (5) years. There is no gurantee that every president should rule for five (5) years. Lungu is a selffish leaders he thinks we dont know that he is the one who is behind all this nonsense. I hope and pray that the supreme court will keep this petition in the drawer instead of wasting our time. Come 11 Aug.2016 God will liberate us this is a christian nation. (Edgar Ngawaliba ukacimona).

  13. @Mr Intelligent… In fact you forgot to mention that the same prophet mentioned that there would be a heavy downpour in Zambia starting from the 1st of April to 21st April. I am yet to see some traces of dark clouds in heaven today. We are waiting for him to revisit the prophecy and probably tell us which part of the prophecy is inaccurate?

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