Although the Constitutional Court had earlier directed that trial in the election petition would start on Friday, 2nd September 2016, the Court has now directed that trial should begin today.
Lawyers representing President Edgar Lungu had argued that the Constitutional Court should not allow hearing to go beyond the stipulated 14 constitutional days and all hearing should be concluded by 2nd September 2016.
UPND was contending that it should be 14 working days excluding Saturday and Sundays and that the hearing should proceed up-to 8th September 2016.
But the Court has directed both the Petitioners and Respondents lawyers that the petition can only be heard today and up till 23:59 hours tomorrow, Friday, 2nd September 2016.
The Court guided that this matter is one where time cannot be negotiated as all parties and the Court is bound by the Constitutional provisions.
Details about ruling on the deadline of 14 days will be advised later.
Its the beginning of the end for the most bitter man in Zambia, HH and his minions. Bring it on Concourt. Time we moved on as a nation after this petition is thrown out.
i hope all lawyers are within Lusaka
Even the Judges at Concourt know that in a Democracy, leaders are chosen by the people and not imposed by the court. They know that any loser in an election has to be given constitutional time to be heard in case of a petition so that they don’t complain that their right is abused.
They equally know that ECZ is the only institution that declares the presidency in Zambia not the courts.
UPND cadres should just start praying that God gives them strength to accept that HH has been defeated, otherwise don’t expect miracles to workout. HH said his farewells pa 11 Aug.
This case should be through out along time ago. ECL warn and everyone knows. There is no way the USA can send congratulatory messages to ECL if they were not sure of the outcome of these petitions. The US has very powerful intelligence who studied and analysed our constitution better than our fake corrupt lawyers. It is very irritating that UPND lawyers failed to understand the constitution regarding handing over power to the speaker. Very irritating also that UPND lawyers failed to understand that under No circumstances will ECZ be commanded to hand over election material because it is the same law which gives them power as custodians of that material. Time wasters Ataseeeee..
PF cadres dont get excited…….This is not the end of the case, the constitution says that the case must be heard in 14 days,…this is the end of the hearing of the petition.
The constitution does not say when judgement must be passed, this could take days, weeks, months or years.
meant …..This case should have been thrown out along time ago.
The bullet is the answer.
These petitions must be done because it makes sense and there is cause.
You don’t petition merely because you have a right, and so you must look for a reason to use your right.
You are supposed to petition because you have a genuine reason that should call for the use of your right. Not the use a right hunting for supporting reasons.
It actually reminds me of the woman in the Bible who slept on her child, waking up to find the child had died. On realising she had lost her child she decided to claim her friend’s child.
She was even courageous to take the matter to court – i.e. to Solmon, to try and use falsehood to get the friend’s child.
From the way the two were talking Solomon knew who the owner was;
that the one who had lost the child was using falsehood to claim the…
that the one who had lost the child was using falsehood to claim the child that was not hers.
But in the interest of transparency and fairness Solomon allowed the court proceedings to go on.
Through an incredible, landmark trial Solomon laid bare the hypocrisy and falsehood of this deceitful woman,
who thought she could steal the friend’s child through the court of law (Solomon the king).
She says, “yes cut the child so that we both lose” oh! Now am even reminded of the referendum, “..don’t vote for it so that it fails, we see if they will succeed. ”
But alas, after that wisdom-filled trial she was not only disappointed but also embarrassed as the child was handed back to the right owner.
Lessons that have clearly been documented keep on being ignored as history keeps…
Lessons that have clearly been documented keep on being ignored as history keeps repeating itself. It’s like people what to learn the lessons for themselves.
What a shame!!
I feel the major case can be finished in less than 8 hrs period. So if ECL is on the winning side, he will still win it and if it is HH on the winning side, he will still win it.
However, it is like ECL`s lawyers are more sharper than HH`s ones. I stand to be corrected if at all my perception is wrong.
Look, UPND went to court merely to ‘exercise their right’, not because they had proper reasons to do so. They have no case at hand.
That is why they spent most of their time playing games, and applying what they had watched sometime back on black and white TV – a comedy movie series called Tom and Jerry.
Instead of focussing on the matter they told people they went to court for, they decided to focus on Tom & Jerry games.
Just like in the comedy series itself, most of the time Tom thought he was traping Jerry the traps backfired.
UPND is unncessarily creating a lot of productivity losses to the nation.
But above all, UPND has created a big loss for itself. This will reflect in their popularity come 2021.
The Halusa Hagain lawyers were contending that the 14 days will end next Thursday on September 8, 2016 if weekends are excluded. The Halusa Hagain lawyers argued that the Court should consider 14 working days instead of the ordinary 14 days.
Lawyers on the other hand representing President Edgar Lungu had submitted that the 14 days in which the petition should be heard will expire on Friday this week, 2 September 2016.
The Constitutional Court has ruled that the 14 day period in which the presidential petition can be heard will expire tomorrow, Friday, September 2, 2016.
HH kuwayawaya fye.
HH aka The most selfish and myopic man south of the equator. GBM is the fly in his ointment.
for those of you who think this was about HH you are wrong wait and see how this nation will become with the vision less leaders we have. HH is doing it for the people not for himself and for your own information HH is ok But what about you guys condemning him,, you who think he is bitter… wait and see what happens to your leader who presents him self as a humble leader……. mind you civil servants you haven’t seen anything yet
Ba hetcel naimwe…what doing it for the people are you talking about? What has your semi-god done for his own workers at his farms, sun hotel and all? He is the most greedy and Penguin-handed person you will ever come accross. According to you he is the most qualified economist you have ever known ka? That’s the problem with retards like you hectel who think your Hypnotised Hyena is a messaiah, far from it. He is fighting to get to Plot 1 by hook or crook to recover his monies! Simply put he is a pathetic and bitter person!
***** its true you are one, cause you the same self hating Zambians who are bringing us down, what did your leader do with his money to help the poor Zambians at-lest for him he is contributing to the economy helping hundreds of poor Zambians. What about your vision-less leader… he is not a messiah but a person with a heart for the people suffering
IT HAD TO BE WITHIN THE 14DAYS! IT IS A CONSTITUTIONALLY ALLOWED LENGTH OF TIME
======================
Will Zambia continue to be have politicians like HH and GBM ever? When everything is said and done, I would like to remind this HH/GBM pact that you have really tried to run Zambian through the wicked mad. You have managed to drag the once vibrant TV and community radio stations through hell due to your selfish agendas. You have managed to embarrass the ECZ through untold percussion and managed to make every Zambian have second thoughts on a solid unified nation. You are the bad eggs in the political arena and I honestly remain questioning your business ingenuity. These 14days of no formal government in Zambia have really exposed your political naivety and immaturity. UPND, is really…
IT HAD TO BE WITHIN THE 14DAYS! IT IS A CONSTITUTIONALLY ALLOWED LENGTH OF TIME
======================
Will Zambia continue to have politicians like HH and GBM ever? When everything is said and done, I would like to remind this HH/GBM pact that you have really tried to run Zambian through the wicked mad. You have managed to drag the once vibrant TV and community radio stations through hell due to your selfish agendas. You have managed to embarrass the ECZ through untold percussion and managed to make every Zambian have second thoughts on a solid unified nation. You are the bad eggs in the political arena and I honestly remain questioning your business ingenuity. These 14days of no formal government in Zambia have really exposed your political naivety and immaturity. UPND, is really a…
Yawama nkani….Show your overwhelming evidence kaili
The order in Court is as follows and given the paucity of time is heavily stacked in favour of the Petitioners:
Litigant/Petitioner – gives evidence and calls in witnesses to give evidence in chief
Defendant/Respondent – cross examines the witnesses
Litigant/Petitioner – re-examines the witnesses
This goes on until the Litigant/Petitioner closes his case and turns it over to the Defendant/Respondent to make their defence.
And now my question is where is justice for the Respondents, since they wont have adequate time if any to make a robust defence and call for witnesses since the Petitioners will exhaust the time?
So how will the ConCourt counter check the assertions of the Petitioner if the Respondents will not have their day in court?
PF may not take it well if the…
All the presiding officers from southern province and through out Zambia who were MARKING ballot papers to aid their relatives will be sorted out. You gave your relatives false hopes that they won elections yet they were far from it. They even deceived ECZ to stop voter verification citing that the case was in court yet they just don’t want to be caught.
Oh forget about overwhelming evidence. This is only found on the social media and online new – ZWD. How people get hooked to lies leaves much to be desired. The only place where a piece of law is interpreted (rightly or wrongly) is the court. Not laywers who are emotionally charged. And UPND, how do you take your own cadres to represent you in a high profile case – people like Mushipe, Jack Mumbwi etc ? – these are known UPND members and they will always be swayed by emotions in the handling of the case. Anyway – the Concourt will rule. But whatever the side the ruling goes – there will be lots of lessons to draw on for the future.
Kekekeke everything as planed no where to run UPND
ECL’s lawyers were buying time by claiming they were not instructed by their client over the issue of the Speaker performing executive functions
Comment:aba bambi bola naikosa…
Pwapwa hahaha bachintofwa
UPND has wasted precious time and lost the trust of those who would have voted for them in 2021! I have learned a moral lesson here, never use emotions to go to Court pa last unga luze!
ICHO CHINE NACHO WASOSO @ Patriot
In the case of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo & 2 Others v John Dramani Mahama & 2 Others (Writ J1/6/2013), the Supreme Court of Ghana (its a commonwealth judgment and thus persuasive in Zed) decided by a very narrow margin of a five-to-four majority that Mr Mahama had been validly elected as President. BUT and this is the biggest BBBUUUUTTTTT: The Court observed if the electoral laws EXPLICITLY provide that non-compliance with electoral laws automatically voids an election, then the courts will give effect to that explicit statutory stipulation.
In Zambia Constitution (Amendment) 2016, Article 45 EXPLICITLY stipulates what is a free and fair election and Article 103(1)(b) EXPLICITLY makes a breach of a provision of the Constitution or other law relating to presidential elections a…
In Zambia Constitution (Amendment) 2016, Article 45 EXPLICITLY stipulates what is a free and fair election and Article 103(1)(b) EXPLICITLY makes a breach of a provision of the Constitution or other law relating to presidential elections automatically voids an election and the courts have to give effect to the EXPLICIT statutory stipulation. Just like they have given the explicit statutory stipulation of 14 days.
I told you, 14 days is 14 days.Nothing like remove this day and remove this.Whats wrong with Upnd lawyers.Problem is they are too emotional and using their hearts and a.sses instead of brains. GBM said it.
Now you are panicking.One of your key witnesses is in hospital with BP, he won’t make it!!Mwanya!!!
This confirms my worst fears after MCS WON on Zambia’s 9-11. Here are learned people before the ULTIMATE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT and it plays-out to be an ACADEMIC exercise; very sad indeed. The moment MCS won with that foul-mouthing,name-calling, donchi kubeba u name it and all were dancing,totally sozzled, nurturing the family forests and ushering in a cleptocracy in their stupor, I knew the bwato is going full-throttle on a highway-to-hell ! Simple folk with their power by proxy approach to politics are today wallowing in own puke…Jesus shall NOT weep! Questions to CoC:
1. Are the ballot materials in an electoral malpractice case irrelevant?
2. Who is the governmental CEO RIGHT NOW?
3. In the light of your verdict on abuse of office, will u stay academical?
AS IT STANDS THE…
……AS IT STANDS THE WHOLE ELECTION WAS A SHAM! LAWS ARE NOT PIECES OF PAPER, THEY ARE THE VERY FABRIC OF A NATION – DO NOT PLAY WITH PEOPLE’S LIVES- LEGALITY IS A SUBSET OF MORALITY…think VEEEEERY CAREFULLY IN WHOSE INTEREST YOU WILL RULE: the people or the cleptocrats!! The people fought want their country back, scorched-earth or not, your moral responsibility!!
The word SHAM is used, in the Zambian political context, by a person who wishes to say:
“Oh, no! Things have not gone my way”.
The court wasted the Petitioners time. It should have heard all the issues at once, including preliminary matters, knowing fully of the time limits. Instead, the court went round entertaining piece meal applications only to realise they have eaten all the time provided
@Wally – Actually the petitioners should have submitted a complete petition instead of doing so piecemeal. And they should also have foregone their demand for interlocutory matters to be disposed of first. Then trial could have proceeded smoothly and the case would have been properly concluded by tomorrow. They’ve made their bed …….
The opposite is true:
The petitioner is wasting the court’s time.
Shame on this under 5 party. Now they are panicking and its game over. Let me take my suit to the laundry in readiness for inauguration of ECL. Viva PF lawyers.
THIS IS A REPEAT OF MWANAWASA ERROR WHERE EVERYTHING WAS ABOUT LAWYERS AND THOSE IN THE LEGAL FRATERNITY’S POCKETS. NOW THAT THERE IS EVEN A NEW CONCOURT THOSE IN THAT SECTOR OF THE LAW WANT TO FILL UP THEIR POCKET JUST TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW SECTOR. HH, UPND AND THE NEW SECTOR DON’T SEEM TO MIND ABOUT THE TIME WHICH IS BEING WASTED FOR THE COUNTRY’S PROJECTS AND HENCE DEVELOPMENT. HH AND COHORTS ARE INTERESTED IN FRUSTRATING DEVELOPMENT AND THE LAW FRATERNITY IN FILLING UP THEIR POCKETS WHILE A COMMON ZAMBIA LOOKS ON. MORALE TO DEVELOP THE COUNTRY WILL EVEN EVAPORATE FROM THOSE FILLED WITH IT. PLEASE, CAN THIS COME TO AN END. ARE ZAMBIA PROFESSIONALS THAT INCAPABLE?
This marks the end of my innocence and respect of the Law.Another Mushala has been born.We have to end this animal farm.
Try it and see how you will be wiped out and you will wish you were not born…
We are all entitled to help Zambia be a really failed state. That’s what we deserve. PF has no exclusivity to stoopidity and violence. Let whoever wants to do what he wants just go ahead, regardless.
The best youcan dy is cry.
And in case you missed it, there was an eclipse today – it was much darker over the Supreme Court in Lusaka and God has already spoken!!
And the failed priest “father” Bwalya was on the radio telling us “God had spoken” on the day of prayers with the sign of a “rainbow” around the Sun!
Is this poor fellow really so ignorant he does not even know this is just a common meteorological phenomenon caused by the refraction of light through ice crystals?
And that it is actually regarded as a sign of bad things to come? From Wikipedia – “a halo round the sun or the moon is called a cock’s eye and is a token of bad weather…”
Check it out!
kikikikikiki,lets now see were GBM and HH will run to,its now time for dust to settle and economy to improve
Those two are comfortable. The are on the list of richest people in Zambia kikikiki
The worst moment for UPND has just come. After a loss, another loss is roaming and then a terrible in-fighting is around the corner. Worse still, massive defection is approaching, to leave only a few selfish leaders, who think joining other parties can not just happen in their life.
Ba wally, it was these 20 companies and many lawyers who wasted one week without starting the preliminary issues. If HH’s people had concrete evidence as they said, they could have started on the dot. ECL’s lawyers are also masters of trickery, they were playing cards very well.
Prof Mvunga ‘wrote’ the Constitution and ‘taught’ the ConCourt judges how to interpret it…
Zambian courts are a total joke for crying out loud! The constitutional court understood the time limit regarding the presidential petition but they kept playing monkey business all this time until they have no time to adequately hear the case and deliver judgement. It is another donch kubeba from PF machinery. So why even waste more time when the outcome is already known at this stage. Please proceed and inaugurate EL period. When is the next prayer meeting by the way?
Yeah UPND, it’s never the fault of your President, nor your party cadres, nor your lawyers. It has to be someone else, always…!
You profile picture is partly to blame for the situation the UPND lawyers have placed themselves in.
Thay started the case with commercial break.
UPND spent too much time implementing principles they learnt from the Tom & Jerry cartoon.
And the character they followed closely was the one showing in your profile picture (Tom).
Because of this character they chose to learn from, they put themselves in the situation there in now.
Let no one pretend, we all know the challenges of Tom in that nice cartoon called Tom & Jerry.
His calculations should not be recommended for life application.
This looks like the real beginning of the end of the long wait! These UPND guys had always claimed to have had a solid case and had started by citing areas where they needed a recounts but it appears after hearing that all observers’ PVTs had agreed with the ECZ results, they started shifting goal posts just to find something to occupy the courts with and create a stand off! Now that the case is going to proceed with 27 remaining counts, as originally filed that makes everything feasible in the remaining days! We hope that after all these all parties will agree with the outcome of the courts so that we start hearing cases of aggravated robbery and ethnic cleansing so that we can all learn the civil way to conduct ourselves in elections!
Once HH and GBM have excercised their rights to be heard,we the villagers of Maala who at the instigation of the likes of hh/gbm/Nalumango/william banda/America hit squad/ and isi were speared,our property destroyed,huts burnt and now displaced are going to the ICC to seek justice. Our children have not been to school as they fear to be attacked and we know if we try to settle our matters in this country they will think we are sponsored by PF. We settled in Maala as Zambians with freedom to vote and not to be battered for that. We have video/sound recordings, photos and sent the data to Red Cross, DMD and Amnesty international…we want Justice and are exercising our International human rights
Why prolong your funeral so that your healing can start? Now PF would have celebrated twice; see the streets tomorrow!
HH and GMB, I repeat, that at this point, are feeling like their skeletal structures are made of wet chalk or jiggies! Time wasters, lets move on and get down to work. We can’t all be held to ransom by that chap with an afro and his brainless colleague with a baggage in the name of a tummy full of nothing but matuvi yeka yeka…malabishi!
Shiki Polomya yatampa in the UPND cump!! wafwa walemana!!
HH did not petition because he wanted to get to State House…No…He petition so that he is not hounded out of the UPND Presidency…He knows his time has ran out and losing 5 times makes it hard for him to cling on…so he can now point to the petition and tell GBM or Garry Nkombo or anyone challenging him to leave; that he did not lose but his “votes were stolen”…and bcoz GBM is dull he didn’t see the folly of supporting HH in this futile attempt to dislodge one ECL…HH after all is cleverer than most of the upnd zealots and bloggers who were supporting blindly…He also needed to manage the creditors…he was doing a due diligence on how he can survive the huge debt incurred over the years.
Chikonko Mwikate! Ababambi balimuchibe bola nyikosa !!!
I have a question: was this the first time interpretation has been handled in the courts. Those UPND lawyers are senior and one is a State Counsel. You mean they don’t know the difference between ordinary and working days.
Now they have a day to start and close the case, having wasted 13 days with applications that they have subsequently lost.
Very dull Upnd lawyers. When they say in 90 days you should hold elections, do you exclude Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays? Ni mbuzi za ma lawyers. Tribal lawyers.Malambo and Co Mwimbu and Co, , Mushipe &Co.
At some point I thought Jack Mwimbu was an intelligent lawyer! How wrong I was!
UPND were crying for the constitution not knowing that their dull lawyers like Mather Mushipe needs a refresher course to comprehend it. I hope she is not one of those ladies who passes exams after being bonked by lecturers.HH please either discontinue the petition or replace your dull lawyers who think you go to court for a “talking” competition.Its Christmas for them to represent you. A lawyer brings evidence to court not innuendos and assumptions.
This is the best way to treat HH and GBM because they are dull. Let their lawyers chew millions from them for doing nothing, These two idi.ts need to be taught a lesson they will never forget, you do not fool God or His creation. Remember Dr. Canisius Banda’s words about fooling with God. I can just see the wrath of God as Canisius put it coming on HH and GBM and the entire UPND will crumble like a half baked cake.
This is excellent news, we are now awaiting the Big one which will send GBM to ICU, (with Not for Resuscitation order in place) due to multiple organ failure and his mate HH to Chainama due to suicidal behavior and acute mental derangement.
UPND shouldn’t have made the blunder of bringing truckloads of evidence for to be disposed off within such a limited time frame. Pertinent evidence would have done. As it is, time is on the side of ECL’s defense team. In any case UPND’s case was doomed to fail by reason of the DOCTRINE OF PUBLIC POLICY (For the greater good of the society let the rights of a few be sacrificed). Trust me on this one.
Please let the lawyers make money!
Watertight case my foot! Academic exercise for the Lawyers; anyway thank you UPND for wasting the zambian peoples time, now let ECL start working, We move on now – All roads leading to heroes – All green !!! PF Hate us we dont care !!
Losers will always cry foul. HH is a loser. GBM is a loser. These two men DO NOT LOVE ZAMBIA and its people but just themselves and only themselves. It is Pay back time mwe mbwa mwe.
This is the best way to treat HH and GBM because they are dull. Let their lawyers chew millions from them for doing nothing, These two idi.ts need to be taught a lesson they will never forget, you do not fool God or His creation. Remember Dr. Canisius Banda’s words about fooling with God. I can just see the wrath of God as Canisius put it coming on HH and GBM and the entire UPND will crumble like a half baked cake.
This is excellent news, we are now awaiting the Big one which will send GBM to ICU, (with Not for Resuscitation order in place) due to multiple organ failure and his mate HH to Chainama due to…
PF create more room for defections from UPND. At the conclusion of this matter will mark the beginning of the end of UPND. This party will go into oblivion, mark my words, Zambians are very upset by HH and GBMs selfishness.
UPND has been in opposition for 18years and the voting pattern has and will remain the same.It will remain intact weather with HH or not.We no we founders of UPND we know what we want and we shall get it.its now closer than ever with 58 MPs its not time to east nor west not even back but foward aluta continua.
NDEFWAYA UKUNYA KU NSANSA
me too
Chisenga and Umwina Kasama, muletesha bane! kekekekekekekek, hahahahahahaha, alalalalalalalalala!
CHRIST SAID I SAW SATAN FALL FROM THE SKY LIKE LIGHTENING. THIS IS WHAT HAS EXACTLY HAPPENED TO HH/UPND.
He was either hallucinating or misquoted!
This goes to the root of the quality of our lawyers. But then how many of us can afford the star studded lawyers that one ECL put together? Those lawyers representing the UPND are no longer a sellable product.
ECL’s legal team is splendid!!it has the best local lawyers such as Prof.Patrick Mvunga,Sakwiba Sikota,Eric Silwamba,Bonaventure Mutale,etc which upnd’s amature lawyers led by marther mushipe and tonga man jack mwiimbu cannot beat!!!SO UPND HAS TO WIN THIS CASE WITHING TOMORROW,HOW POSSIBLE?ITS BEYOND ME TO EVEN IMAGINE!!!I CANT WAIT FOR DUNUNA REVERSE AT HEROES AFTER TOMORROW!!!GO ECL GO!!
This is sad to say the least….the concourt should not be pressurised by state house…..we know it is coming from there……… now that they claim time is not there…..any judgement will be to satisfy the ruling party what a shame…..petition began with the President taking a photo with presiding concourt judges….where have you ever seen such…its a question of not only morality but independence of the judiciary itself….Now time is not there WOW what a circus….this is disappointing
Wenyo .
Time ….heals .hh will cry and cry until 2090…
“…petition began with the President taking a photo with presiding concourt judges…”
Are you delusional or what..?
Anyway, at least YOU recognize that ECL is the President…
Up ‘N Down, always giving excuses. Twanaka.
No wonder you are ZERO BOY. Where did you see ECL having a recent photo shot with Concourt Judges???? That is a very old picture taken after the swearing in of Concourt Judges, way before elections. Muletekanya bane….. too little knowledge is extremely dangerous.
Starting to hear and conclude a Presidential petition within a day!!! If a Parliamentary election can surely take a couple of months to conclude, what about a Presidential petition mwebantu which is at national level? This Country, my foot!!!
It’s NOT LUNGU on Trial
It’s NOT HH’s Political Career on Trial
It’s ZAMBIA’s DEMOCRACY on Trial!!!
The outcome of this trial will kill or resuscitate ZAMBIA’s DEMOCRACY.
@Maloza….well said
You have put it differently to soothe your disappointment. Big up to you…
I know who the Petitioners are and who the Respondents are.
Zambia’s democracy was tested on 11 August…
Yalaluka ba UPND mailo. Shame! Caught pants down urinating in ECZ pots!
Only in Zambia can one find dogs fighting over a bowl of okra. The economy is in dire straits. Why would anyone want to spend their hard earned money just go to plot one? The way things are going, there shall come a time when mealie shall run out even at state house. This petition crap is boring. Swear yourselves in, whoever! The common man is waiting for you.
Sad way of looking at things but hey its democracy……
JJ Kalonda i feel pity for Bembas and Nyanjas let them cerebrate today for tommoro is another day.They dont what tommoro brings.Especially the Bembas will die from hunger because your Lungu will disapoint you.Mark my words today.
Thus us in the interest of Zambia and Zambians. The ConCourt must act with speed and cut short unmerited arguments. The quality of evidence UPND provide or fail to provide (as will be the case), should decide almost immediately the fate of HH and his team. If the court feels the case was brought through mischief or bad character ( which HH has exhibited in bucketfuls and spades), there MUST be some form of punishment. Asides from crippling costs awarded to other parties, there must be a judgement in words that is harsh enough to balance HH’s attempt at usurping the righteous joy of the winner and the national support. The ConCourt must frown upon this case as it will spell consequences to future losing presidential candidates who want to pacts a snide and show their teeth on purely…
……. ConCourt must frown upon this case as it will spell consequences to future losing presidential candidates who want to show snide and their teeth to their ‘betters’ (winners), on purely malicious grounds. HH and his party have done this, they declared they would challenge any loss before the elections. As for their Legal team, some of them that falsely gave wrong advice that a challenge could be mounted, based on the poor evidence provided, the should be disciplined by LAZ and disbarred. Lawyers like that stink the air throw Judicial buildings.
Maybe, they can place an injunction on the current party heads of UPND especially HH, to prevent them taking part in elections in future. That will force their party to go for that long overdue convention to refresh their Leadership.
Most bloggers, I perceive are either not lawyers or have not been to court.
Court adjudicates on evidence presented before it and it is the task of the opponent to discredit or refute that evidence.
The one holding the winning cards are UPND….they will present their truck load of evidence. Then what time will PF have to rebut this evidence and much less present their defence?
Thanks for clarity….nonlawyer indeed
sokomot; truck load of evidence – iliko rather but anyway dreaming is free of charge go ahead and dream!
Well as a certified paralegal, It’s clear you don’t understand the legal process yourself! Truck load of evidence…..no time to rebuttal??
Actually, the evidence should have been given to all parties in the case on a date as directed by the court. All parties must exchange evidence BEFORE the hearing so that they can DEFEND OR ARGUE THEIR CASE. there are no surprises in courts.
@Patriot,
Agreed….this is not trial by ambush as in sub court.
Truck loads of evidence can come viva voce….and most evidence unless documentary is adduced this way. I would also say that the summons goes with the statement of claim or in this case an affidavit on which the petitioner relies. What may not happen is to amendment of the petition…?
@Somomot. I think we should give kudos to the Constitutional Judges who have attended to all preliminary hearings; that they have heard both parties, that they have on balance decided on this to give a firm date to hear the case within the time allowed. I trust the Judges to be astute enough and are able to be VERY firm with removing ‘too much padded’ information. They have waded through the evidence and will probably disallow any non relevant evidence provided, that is not RELEVANT to the case they have honed out to hear. Judges are trained to spot a whopper from miles away and will cut to the chase to bring the case to order so it can be heard. Personally, I feel UPND have no case. Period. They need to bite the bullet and 2021 open for play.
EVEN A FOOL KNOWS, UPND IS DOOMED. WHY?
The Party has been infiltrated by PF lunatics who cannot show what good they have brought to the party, but shame and loss of elections!The evidence is so disorganised making it easier for the Court to discover their intellecual frailty on handling lissues on fact. The Party has messed up with evidence by being forever too general being illadvised by either childish and inexperienced or incompetent lawyers who are clearly chasing the UPND purse.ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR——-UPND IS DOOMED!It is a lesson to whoever is taking over from HH not to lean on PF “migrants”. BB
Ba upnd are so irritating, always playing victim, its so annoying!
Best books for 2016
1. Disaster Awaits PF On August 11 by Munkombwe
2. Deputy Minister Storms Bank Over Employee’s Facebook Comment by Dawson Kafwaya
3. Political Leaders Vow to End Violence – the Church in Zambia
4. How to remove a setting president from Office by Andrew Kamanga
5. PF dead …and those that have remained are only waiting to hand over power in August – Obvious Mwaliteta
6. What action to take as a sitting MP in PF if you do not have a G12 Certificate by Obvious Mwaliteta
7. Christine Kaseba Refuses Offer, Running Mate Eludes UPND
8. UPND Will Remain Strong Even After Running Mate Is Announced – Edwin LIFWEKELO
9. Muntanga buried: He should have been in my Cabinet – HH
10. How to ditch a Father’s party – Mulenga Sata
11. How to stage an aggravated robbery…
The courts cannot be inconsistent with dates. This directive is highly questionable. How can it come when they are suppose to rule on the stepping aside motion? These judges have been compromised
A joke indeed… could we stop pretending like we have a functioning country with functioning laws?
The entire country’s law fraternity is failing to read simple English.
Someone used analogies to try and explain their point:
“I shall sleep within 5 hours of arriving at my hotel”
“I shall read your book within 2 days of publishing it”
“The court shall hear the petition within 14 days of filing it”
In each case it does not mean the action shall be completed in the specified time frame. In the first instance in doesn’t mean I will sleep as soon as I arrive and finish my sleep and wake up after 5 hours. It just means that if I will have a time window of 5 hrs in which to start my sleep… e.g. if I arrive at the hotel at say 5pm, I can sleep at 5:01, 5:02,…
…e.g. if I arrive at the hotel at say 5pm, I can sleep at 5:01, 5:02, …, 6pm, …, 8pm… 10pm. I can’t sleep after 10pm but so long as I start my sleep within 5 hrs I meet the requirement and I can sleep as long as I want thereafter.
Additional best books for 2016
11. How to stage an aggravated robbery after an election – Obvious Mwaliteta
12. How to petition an election – HH & GBM
13. It would Have Been Tragedy had UPND Won – Edwin Lifwekelo
14. ConCourt orders trial in election petition to start 2 days before end of 14 days – ConCourt
15. How to count 14 constitutional days – Martha Mushipe UPND Lawyer
16. How to steal an election in Zambia – GBM
17. Losing elections 5 times – HH
18. How to cancel Bank Loans for all employees in the Country – HH & GBM
19. How to provide free education in Zambia from Grade 1 to University – HH & GBM
20. How to operate non-profit making mines when the metal prices are a low – HH & GBM
How come all the other participating opposition parties including Rainbow have conceded defeat and congratulated HE ECL other than the Under 5?
Zambia is NOT a section of three Provinces BUT that of ten Provinces comprising people with different norms and beliefs. So only when the majority buy into your vision can you dare step foot in State House. Unfortunately, the seven Provinces didn’t agree with HH and UPND but with EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU in as required by the law. It’s sad that today, HH can still think money means everything, NO bwana it’s about tompwe and acceptability by the majority that matters!
The other political parties that have conceited defeat are democrats.
When did anyone hear of democracy in UPND?
Bemba and Nyanja celebrete its your time.Enjoy laugh at others because you are superior and the majority.you have all the wisdom and zambia chaalo chenu.If you are the only chosen tribes of zambia let there be peace and economic development.Jah is watching.
There is no ethnic group called Nyanja in Zambia or in Mozambique or Malawi only Chewa.
ECL has clever lawyers and the CounCourt is also around him. If HH had bright lawyers why did they fail to interprete the constitution? The issue of the ballot material has been thrown out also, where are HH and GBM lawyers? Uwapona tabula kabepekesho. Just accept ba dala HH and continue with life, making more money again. The HH and GBM lawyers are caught unaware, they just want to dragg the case. May the God of peace continue guiding Zambia in this trying moment and the days to come.
Failed state
miscarriage of Justice….the court knew what 14 days meant hence they should have been sitting every day till Friday but THIS IS AFRICA, WHERE WE SUPPORT ISSUES BASED ON POLITICAL AFFILIATION INSTEAD OF PRINCIPLE…………….HOPEFULLY 1 DAY, WE SHALL WAKE UP AND DO THE RIGHT THINGS
The court’s are not training institutions.
They are there listen to arguments and pass judgement.
The judges don’t tell lawyers how to interpret law when arguing their cases.
Instead judges listen to arguments and pass judgement.
Forgive them if you are offended by their assumption that lawyers are taught how to make interpretation from law school.
IT IS NIECE TO BE LEAVING IN CURRENT ZAMBIA WHERE LAWYERS JUST MAKE MONEY WITHOUT SWEATING.
hh,gbm please just chew your money. how are going to pay back what you have borrowed to hire helicopters,
paying your losing lawyers,etc.?
already some of the your members are now very quite if not worried, may about to change camp……….
How do you expect a country to prosper when fraud abides
Lungu is a serious hooligan. See how he won the PF elections in Kabwe. Many zambians are bewitched not to see the reality.
Do you think HH’s formula, 10 years ago, was better?
my myself please, you wanted the courts to be sitting day and night when HH’s lawyers were busy making amendments? Please, do a research and find out how the highest courts operate.
He who laughs last, laughs the best!!!!!!
corrupt people need corrupt leaders and vice versa. Zambians need to stop stealing from each other.
Actually, not a laughing matter. On trial is Zambia’s constitution.
People get leadership they deserve. Mugabe brutalizes Zimbabweans cos that’s what Zimbabweans deserve. Same for Uganda and other despotic regimes. Same here in Zed; people celebrate corruption , bribery and theft.
@58 Meimatungu
The very constitution we, not too long ago, so vehemently fought for, is what is on trial.
What a pity the so called “President Elect” is the respondent; the law’s supposedly chief enforcer, its principal transgressor; it’s maker, the slayer!
It’s of no consequence if he, the so called “President Elect” is ultimately exonerated. It’s of consequence he is the accused. How may he later be seen to enforce a law he now so shamelessly repudiates and scorns? Would we turn around and call him “HYPOCRITICAL?”
I would say, we are the ones full of contradictions, ones of our own making. We are the ones, the creators of our own leaders; the makers of our own dictators; those who later come to haunt us in broad daylight.
Should not the president and all law makers be held to a loftier standard? Should we not call them to account for the very appearance of evil? Or do we here, today choose to declare as null and void, the old adage: “There is no smoke without fire?”
In the fight of the giants of the jungle, it’s the grass that suffers; in the fight of these giants of our land, we, the little people, are the ones who get killed. And yet, we cheer them on. We want to see them fight in order that we are thereby entertained! What a spectacle of spectators we have become; not completely our own undoing; not innocently blameless. We are the evil architects of our own fate; the instigators of our own demise. What a shame!
HH HAS TAUGHT US A HARD LESSON, TOO HARD TO FORGET
I have been writing and like UPND Generals, advising on the need to replace HH, until this petition mess. People thought I was confused PF chap, stupid and all sorts of names. I would wonder a leader telling his flock a year before elections that he has already won; and he is called an Economist. This man is a real uncouth fellow. I am not surprised the entire UPND other than his “PF migrants” are talking after such a humiliating defeat. The Party was made to live in “imaginary ivory towers” that it was automatically forming Government, in 2015 and also in 2016. What a fuss! Technical and Political advisers all so disappointingly cold. I have never felt pain like this. HH should be the last man to trust. BB
The problem with comment board like this one is that few comment with real pespective on what is going on. Firstly the fact there is a petition one should be asking whether there are reasons for such. The bottomline is that even election obesevers mentioned that the process up to election day was not fair to all candidates. Just should be sufficient to petition because the constitution is clear the process must be fair to all participants
On the other side, one must also feel as a Zambian that the constitution also has got some serious anomalies. The 14 days in which the petition is head should be counted from the day the court start hearing the matter not from the day the petition is filed. The 7 days after election to file the petition should stay. The way it is now, it allows lawyers of the respondent to delay the process until there is no time for the court to hear the matter. Such as has been happening with the lawyers for the president elect refusing to accept the petition documents. In the end it’s Zambians who lose, when leaders are not accountable and win by the lowest common denomitor the country suffers and this is one is happening.
The 14 days my friend started after they filed in the Petition. Count and the wording in the Constitution both for filing and hearing is mandatory. When it suits one the Constitution should be followed and when it doesn’t suit one then it is crappie. Same applies to the court.
The ConCourt is not being fair……Why did they say the hearing will continue until next week only to change their mind at last minute?
How can we trust that they know the constitution when they are sending out mixed reactions?
Zambia political scenario seems to be rotten including the once reliable ConCourt. I dont support HH, but this last minutes decision sounds fishy, and I am losing my objective trust.
My information is that the UPND lawyers will throw in the towel tomorrow morning rather than suffer the embarrassment. What we don’t know is what excuse they will give this time.
I am not sure this court is interpreting the Constitution correctly. There is no need to rush the case for a purported reason that the petition needs to be disposed of within 14 days. It needs to ‘take off’ within 14 days – that’s the difference and correct interpretation – The court needs to listen to all the arguments and go through all the relevant evidence presented.
I also shudder at people who simply want to ignore processes and ride on the crest of a populist anarchic political wave. The less people choose to follow laws the more this country is retreating into the jungle – eventually to emerge emaciated and more directionless.
Have you read both the Constitution and the Court Rules?
Where is the mighty Nevers Mumba #upndcadre?
Kikikikikikikikiki self proclaimed educcated UPND beaten pants down by so called kaponyas…Pride is a cardinal sin bane. Bamidununa KIKIKIKIKIKI again KIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIK bye bye Polio bye
UPND WERE WASTING TIME PLAYING TO THE GALLERY. THEY WERE BUSY TRYING TO IMPRESS THEIR SUPPORTERS ON MUVI TV AND ZWD THAT THEY WERE THE GREATEST AND THAT THEY HAD A WATER TIGHT CASE. THEY WERE TOO EMOTIONAL AND WITHOUT THINKING THEY STARTED THROWING TANTRUMS USING THE LIKES OF MARTHA MUSHIPE. THEY HAPHAZARDLY BUNDLED UP A MOUNTAIN OF POORLY ORGANISED SO CALLED EVIDENCES WHICH HAD NO FIRM GROUND WITHOUT THINKING. TO MAKE IT WORSE, THEY ENLISTED WHOLE HORDES OF LAWYERS AND LAW FIRMS OF ALL SORTS OF SHADES AND HUE WHO ALSO HAVE COMPETING INTERESTS. THE RESULT IS A POORLY BAKED CAKE LEAVING BIG GAPING HOLES IN THE PETITION. THEY WERE NOT EVEN TAKING THE PETITION TO THE LAWYERS OF THE RESPONDENTS. THEIR AIM WAS SIMPLY TO EMBARRASS ECL BY DELAYING HIS INAUGURATION. THEY FORGOT THAT THEY WERE…
..(continued)…. EATING INTO THE 14 DAYs. TIME WAS NOT ON THEIR SIDE. NOW BASHALA MULI MWAMONENI. BASENSELA ILYO KAWA. IN BEMBA THEY SAY “MUNSHEBWA AILE NA MASHINSHA KU BUKO”
Zambia is a failed state. These ended elections are a sham, I have never heard elections where 70 members of parliamentary are petitioning. ECZ you have failed Zambians. Africa we are cursed nothing good can come out of us. That’s why we fail even to run our own countries because of crookedness, selfishness, and being evil.
BA Mateo MULEIKALAFYE PANSHI. THE EU, USA, UK AND ALL INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES HAVE DESCRIBED THE ELECTIONS AS TRANSPARENT. IMWE MWANYA FYE ICISUSHI ATI ZAMBIA IS A FAILED STATE. IT IS THE PETITION WHICH IS FAILED. AND NOT THE STATE.
I really don’t understand this country at all. What the concourt should have done was to start sitting immediatlely the petition was filed in, including on weekends. In that case the 14 days could have been justified.The courts do not operate on weekends, so why were they(weekends) included in the 14 days??.In government when one applies to go on leave for 14 days only working days are counted to make up that 14 days. They don’t include weekends simply because on weekends people in government don’t work. This is simple logic. Before we even hear the outcome of this petition an injustice has already been committed in terms of the exact period this concourt should have sat.
The Concourt seems to be all at sea…should have taken control of the proceedings, given proper orders for direction and engaged both parties in outlining and agreeing on disputed facts just when the petition was filed. Now the country will be saddled with a rushed hearing and subsequently a less than stellar conclusion to this petition. Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done…smh
Zambia has gone nuts..no longer a haven of peace but poverty and tension
For years, we vehemently fought for the constitution. Now we are fighting against it. Then, we wanted the constitution enacted. Now we want it overthrown. Few now, if any, are seen coming to its defense. Why? Because we are discovering that the constitution is standing in our way. We must have our way at all costs. For that, president Lungu is eager to tear that piece of paper to shreds because it happens to be standing in his way. But when the president of a country becomes the first to violet the very constitution he himself signed into law, of what value is it still?
Does this mean Zambians should go back to the drawing board and redraft the constitution afresh? Won’t that new constitution also have obvious flaws of its own, just as this one is? Is it merely coincidence that law…
continued:………
Is it merely coincidence that law makers are not necessarily trained lawyers, much less constitutional lawyers? Isn’t that not the reason why courts, and not lawmakers, are the ones tasked to interpret the law?
It now seems that every Jim and Jack in Zambia knows how to interpret the law. We each consider ourselves good enough to know that the constitution we just had made for ourselves is not good enough. Why then, do we waste our time to go to courts for disposition of cases? Why are we advised not to take the law into our own hands? Or do we consider Judges to be merely referees of a game that we all know how to play?