The Lusaka High Court this morning adjourned the hearing of the preliminary issue in the case in which UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and his Vice President Geoffrey Mwamba have petitioned the Court seeking an Order directing the Constitutional Court to hear the presidential petition.
The two opposition leaders are also seeking an order that the petition be heard independently, fairly and within a reasonable time among other substantive reliefs.
And Mr Hichilema and Mr Mwamba today filed a motion before Judge Chitabo, through their lawyer alleging that Judge Chitabo is biased and must recuse himself from hearing the petition.
But Judge Chitabo said he only saw the motion which was filed yesterday for him to recuse himself from determining the petition today and thus adjourned the matter to tomorrow, Thursday 16 March 2017.
If Judge Chitabo refuses himself from hearing the preliminary issue, the matter will be allocated to a new Judge.
Among other things both Mr. Hichilema and Mr Mwamba are seeking is an order that the manner in which the Constitutional Court construed the 14 days in Article 101 and 103 was ultra vires Article 18(9) of the Constitution.
Just as it happened during the Petition, delaying tactics.
In as Much as i dont like these two Zambian Trumps, I dont trust our Judiciary any more. Very difficult nowadays to find judge who are 100% impartial…..Wonder if there is anything 100 %..when even Dettol says 99.99 % kills germs
HH and GBM please Recuse yourselves from Zambia. You are rabid dogs who are not responding to treatment, bye.
Its only fair to the right of being heard.
This important presidential petition needs truly independent & uncompromised judiciary~not those biased con~court PFudges who failed to interpret the simple 14 working or business days.The right to be heard is a fundamental human right & the High Court has all powers on Bill of Rights. Irene Mambilima is a PF bandit who preferred blind Lungu to be sworn in as illegitimate president by a court registrar.
Bravo UPND, HH & GBM.
How much is mealie meal today PF bandits?
The Skeleton Key
~206~
So who set the trial dates without informing the useless Judge to warrant this malignant behavior of “Judge’ Chitabo.
Why not just recuse himself? Probably he can’t recuse himself because he’s already ‘chewed’ the bribe and risk his life being sniffed out of you!
Have the Commonwealth and SADC observers taken note of this stu~pudity by a supposedly learned Judge!
This case is going nowhere unless UPND lobby for affirmative international support! Tomorrow this same Judge will apply other delaying tactics with a new dimension and in like manner a new Judge will replay the same delaying tactics till 2021!
The message is clear! Lungu is going nowhere no matter the evidence!
Exactly Ndanje!
These two fo.ols are real time wasters! Yes indeed these two foo!s must recuse themselves from this country…mwanyanya mwee!
From other sources:
“The case in which UPND leaders Hakainde Hichilema and Geoffrey Mwamba have asked the High Court to determine whether their rights to be heard were breached by the constitutional Court has failed to take off because the judge was not aware of the date.
Meanwhile, HH and GBM have lodged papers asking the same judge Mwila Chitabo to hand over the case to a neutral judge.” Hence HH’ & GBM’s reason to apply for Chitabo to recuse himself.
Lusaka Times is mute on judge not being aware of the trial date. So who is misleading who? Lusaka Times is deliberately concealing Chitabo delaying tactics which prompted HH & GBM to apply for Chitabo to recuse himself! No wonder PF bloggers are shooting aimlessly
HH should quickly get back to being Opposition leader ….. Saviour Chishimba will take his mantle before he knows it …. WAKE UP !!!!!!
Give the Zambians chance to know the truth and it’s the truth that will set ECL free.
Stupidity
Petition again. Awe twanaka with this nonsense of jumping from one court to another like desperate monkeys. This issue was burried longtime ago. These two selfish id.iots bachilamo. You lost because Zambians rejected you and voted for Edgar Lungu.
The sympathy temperature for these two is decreasing. This is a form of money laundering.
AAGH! AGAIN IN COURT THESE TIME WASTERS.
Aah Aah! I thought we are fighting for the right cause? Now we have started “beating about the bush”. Again time yalapwa ka!
Yes we want MARTHA MUSHIPE….. She is the only one who can handle this case fairly.
TELL THAT TO THE JUDGE
These guys dont have a case to fight for. They are uding the same hopeless set of lawyers with the same failed delaying tactics that saw them fail to understand what 14 Days mean. HH kuwayawaya fye
From other sources:
“The case in which UPND leaders Hakainde Hichilema and Geoffrey Mwamba have asked the High Court to determine whether their rights to be heard were breached by the constitutional Court has failed to take off because the judge was not aware of the date.
Meanwhile, HH and GBM have lodged papers asking the same judge Mwila Chitabo to hand over the case to a neutral judge.”
Hence HH’s & GBM’s reason to apply for Chitabo to recuse himself.
Lusaka Times is mute on judge not being aware of the trial date. So who is misleading who?
@Kayombo
what would you have done if the the trial Judge is ignorant of the trial dates but meanwhile reported at Court?
Suspect they are in deep debt.
It was best to hear the ruling than start all this. We need to get to the end of this case.
If we are are going to allow this, everyone will be choosing his/her own judge. It will result in total confusion. You take your case to court and want to choose the judge you want to preside over it? Where else does this happen? And if the one you choose does not rule according to your wish, you turn around and call him corrupt…..What type of the nation our we creating for ourselves.
@Voice from the Wilderness: Looks like you have not fully understood the Petitioners complaint over Judge Chitabo. They have asked the Chief Justice to appoint a non-partisan Judge or panel of Judges to preside over this case. If truly Judge Chitabo is pro-PF, then the Petitioners are within their rights to refuse to have him preside over a case which is directly between PF and UPND. Impartiality on the part of the Judges is very important. I’m contributing from a non-partisan point of view.
According to you UPeND guys all Zambian Judges are corrupt!
Are you then telling us that unless we now ask ka MaDonald Chipenzi, Leonard Hikaumba,expired Politicians like Munkombwe, Master Rigger VJ Mwaanga, fallen Pastor Mevers Numba and other cohorts that’s when you will have a fairer hearing ayi? Someone called you guys dung beetles, and I totally agree to that because that’s what you really are!
United Party for Next Defeat in 2021. Kaponya (HH) and GBV why are you making this application against the judge now? Do you even know what you are trying to achieve? What is wrong with your veranda party and indecisiveness? The same judges you keep insulting everyday are the ones who will hear your cases. Look at how lost this Kaponya (HH) has become. What a pillock
You are all ignorant of court procedural process. There is an order to be followed in the court of law. The courts are not interested in your politics. You all think like Keizer Zulu. It’s a shame!
Aaah nafuti? Thehy both look worried whats cooking behind their scenes.?
Whoever advises HH and GBM has no mercy! How do you surely keep-on misleading grown-up men like you’re doing it to kindergarten kids. Iyeee! mwebantu muleumfwilako abanenu uluse, again more adjournments! Naimwe bene HH Nabashi Chilekwa (GBM) surely, you can’t see that this is another dununa reverse! Awe, this is more like playing cidunu. If this is not Cipante-pante at its best then I don’t know teacher.
but they have a point you cant have a judge who is biased make a judgement on your case.let them carry on if they lose they lose but they should exhaust all legal channels,what we don’t want is cadres on the streets throwing stones and damaging peoples property or getting killed by our overzealous ZP.
Looking at the comments here, I’ve got reason to believe pangarians and their sympathisers think like wild animals….
Trying to hold on to upnd presidency by misusing court processes..! If hh was clever as he claims, he would have known that the presidential petition case ended the day wen Lungu was inaugurated..! Upnd lawyers must be billionaires by now. More money in your pockets guys..!
@Munene
Lungu was not supposed to be inaugurated by a registrar of court instead of the chief justice and in the absence of the G12s. I hope you understand that as of now Zambia has an impostor, illegal president, and Lungu together with his thugs know this.
I am now believing those who have been saying that HH is keeping this case active just to help him remain at the helm of UPND. Why are you delaying the case again? If you have a strong case why not let it go ahead?
it is the judge that is playing tatics. everyone has the right to be heard.
Comment: Ba Shichilekwa ichibemba chitila uwenda nangoshe nokumubeya eumubeya. I foresee your political career coming to an abrupt end, immediately this issue is over in our courts.
Kuyumyayumya basankwa!
So it means if they still dont like the new judge they will ask for another change. And so on and so on till 2021. Hh just wants to use judiciary to stay at the helm of UPND
I hope Hechi Hechi and GBM have suggested a name of a Judge, who is non-partisan according to themselves. I personally see this argument as very hard to crack because even the Chief Justice may not know which Judges are non-partisan. Now, if the constitution says 14 days, then the Judge rules to say the 14 days are exactly the two weeks that you all know about. Can you call that Judge as Partisan? It is a common knowledge that UPND Cadres damaged properties at the Courts, can you say the Judge who convicted such carders as partisan? These two people are trading on dangerous grounds.
Yes they have a name, MARTHA MUSHIPE.
People should not comment without sufficient background information. Justice Chitabo set the 15 & 16 March 2017 to hear the UPND Petition. Apart from setting the dates Justice Chitabo advised Petitioners and Respondents that the Trial will not be in an open Court and that it will be in Chambers. Justice Chitabo further advised UPND and Pf to make sure that their supporters should not come to the Court. However this morning at 9 hrs Justice Chitabo pretended that he did not know that there was a seating in his Court this morning involving the Petition. Justice Chitabo behaved in a manner that made Petitioners feel and believe that they would not get justice in their case and then for the second time ask Justice Chitabo to recuse himself from the Petition. Its in the Petitioners’Rights to…
CLEARLY PUT SIR, HOPE ALL THOSE BLAMING H H FOR DELAYING THE CASE UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING. ONE DAY GUYS YOU WILL BE SEEKING JUSTICE IN OUR COURTS AND WILL WANT FAIR PLAY. CHAWAMINA MBUZI………
Thats the idea kaili
Please think, don’t just condemn without thinking. Let those guys fight for their rights. What is wrong with
that? Even if it takes years let justice be done. Only dull people can’t understand this.
How can this pile of dog sh*t forget a date he set, some judges.
So let’s attack a justice that under went vigorous bar and educational enlightenment. The next judge shall rule with malice against UPND just to show that the judiciary has claws and teeth that work. HH is afraid of losing the. UPND presidency, cadres are just not smart enough to know this.
ILYASHI LYAPANSAKA, MUSENDACHIPUBA. ONLY F00LS WILL BELIEVE IN WHAT THESE TWO FULLS ARE DOING. WISE OPPOSITION LEADERS WITH HUMAN BRAINS HAVE MOVED ON. TALK OF NAWAAKWI, SAVIOR (MADMAN) CHISHIMBA, KABIMBA, ANDYFORD ( IS IT OXFORD) BANDA, MAXWELL MWAMBA, I MEAN ALL OF THEM ARE NOW OFFERING CHECKS AND BALANCES TO GOVT., BUT THESE TWO, THEY WANT TO CONTINUE FOOLING THEIR F00LISH FOLLWERS THAT SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY WILL HAPPEN. CHINECHINE UMULEMBWE WACHIPUBA UPWILA MULITUMFWE.
Hungry Hyena and GBV at their donkey tricks!
Zambia deserve a better opposition than this!
#cageHungryHyenaandGBVfortheviolence
@19 Temba and others who are alleging that judge Chitabo claimed that he did not know the dates of hearing, that is not true. What Judge Chitabo said was that he only saw the motion to recuse himself today which motion was presented yesterday. Is it that you guys want to lie or you did not read the article fully to understand. Please re-read the article and then comment accordingly. So my understanding, whoever is blaming the judge basing on the above reason is 100% wrong.
The only Judge who can stop this nonsense is a female Judge, pls. madam Chief Justice appoint a female Judge and every body will see what will happen.
At Crossroads. The ones ruling have no capacity….the economic situation is getting worse. With the impending removal of subsidies on electricity announced today, all I can advise is that brace for hard times ahead. The ones intending to rule might also not have the capacity. Tough life….
“”But Judge Chitabo said he only saw the motion which was filed yesterday for him to recuse himself from determining the petition today and thus adjourned the matter to tomorrow, Thursday 16 March 2017.””
Lets learn to read please articles !!!!!
It could very well be that Justice Chitabo was feeling uncomfortable to carry out Lungu’s directives in handling the Petition. He was deliberately annoying the Petitioners so that he could be asked to recuse himself rather than announcing a Judgment which he does not believe in and is unprofessional. It would have been foolish of Justice Chitabo to Rule that the Petitioners have no right to be heard in Court knowing very well that this is a fundamental and Universal human Right the World over. Justice Chitabo could be secretly laughing and relieved from making such a scandalous judgement which was going to haunt him to the grave.
why don’t they make Martha Mushipe a judge?She can then preside over this case and within 2 hours the case will be closed.oh,wait a minute,the lady is now broke and busy suing her landlords for unfair eviction etc.
The late MC Sata was the best opposition leader Zambia ever had. He would not waste time in courts.
No sooner had he lost an election, than he started campaigning. It explains why PF is in power today.
He understood that power lies with the people not courts. Work up you two blinded F00ls.
These two *****s what do they want? Now even the small votes they got from other provinces, they will not have the any more. These fools, they think they are the only intelliegent Zambians. Nakachinda told them the other day that pertaing to their loss every thing points in that direction. You win in 2 and half provinces, you run to the international community and tell them lies that you won and victory was stolen. They should learn to accept defeat and not to continue having dreams
Please people of Zambia let us not take the judiciary into abusos’ where every patriot will lose confidence in politics. Why amending the constitution when constitutional rights are not followed. This presidential petition which started in August was supposed to be a bygone. This time around all nationals across the country don’t even know the direction politically, socially and economically. Please let us stop politics of self aggrandizement.
Judge chitabo was learnt very late about the application to have him recuse himself from ruling or indeed hearing GBM HH application hence he did the right thing adjourn
The problem with this case is not to do with the courts or a particular judge, and neither the petitioners nor the Attorney General. It is a problemof the Constitution. The formulators of the draft Constitution which resulted in the 2016 Amended Constitution provided for the establishment of the Constitutional Court in the context of ENHANCED Bill of Rights. Without making amendments to the Bill of Rights and the Constitutional Court continues to exist in the current Constitution, such problems will always be with us. What is needed is to amend the Bill of Rights to include provisions that support or justify the existence of the Constitutional Court.
Tamwakene Referendum bar fee color?
Though people want this gone like that, I like the spirit these two are displaying and that’s what sets them apart. Determined people never lose and you have seen undetermined people like Sampa fade away, these two would not fade away and that should serve as a warning to PF. The courts need to understand that the Concourt belongs to us and we have the right to challenge their ruling when we don’t agree with it, that is what PF cadres are missing. Kaizer and Lungu hired those fake judges but we the people pay their salaries and have every right to complain about them, not only shaka or 20/20 should be benefiting from them otherwise charge PF cadres more taxes since they think they own the country. This case determines the future of the Concourt court and from their actions, it is less…
2 rich brainless idi0ts, I presume.
I like their never give up mentality.
@19 Mr Temba, do not mislead your fellow donkeys, they are confused enought, spare them.
Judge Chitabo came well prepared for today’s case. What surprised him is that yesterday hh and his running mate applied for the case to be allocated to another judge. As in the original petition at Concourt, we can say that the lawyers for hh and rm did not serve this on Judge Chitabo on time, they only did so yesterday. Do you donkeys think that Judges have nothing else to do but wait for your chief donkey and his room mate to file all manner of application and be ready the following day? Ninsoni fye ba hh na ba room mate babo. They have read the article by Mwinelubemba corroborated by Professor Hansungule who explained what 14 days means. On the other hand hh and his rm are on record in the High…
Contd…On the other hand hh and his rm are on record in the High Court claiming that the petition has no time limit and should be “heard” indefinitely, forever. That is genesis of today’s application by hh, to delay or postpone, in order to save face. Today the Judge was going to pronounce the verdict exactly on the lines of Mwinelubemba and Professor Hansungule. Now you UPNDonkies know that we know the truth ka?
What hh is hoping for is that while waiting for this preliminary application, Linda Kasonde could be appounted Judge and somehow be allocated the case. But hh has firgotten tgat Judges in Zambia are appointed the President, for the avoidance of doubt this is His Excellent Chagwa Lungu….and Linda Kasonde is not on the list of future judges even next 50 years….kikikikiki
Sorry corrections; What hh is hoping for is that while waiting for this preliminary application, Linda Kasonde could be appointed Judge and somehow be allocated the case. But hh has forgotten that Judges in Zambia are appointed by the President, for the avoidance of doubt this is His Excellent Chagwa Lungu….and Linda Kasonde is not on the list of future judges even next 50 years….kikikikiki
But tomorrow the Judge should be firm and save hh and his rm further anguish by telling them that this is frivolous and an abuse of court process and throw out both the case and the new application. We cannot wait for Linda Kasonde to appointed Judge, which in itself is far fetched time wasting hopeless donkie thinking.
Justice Chitabo is a well known PF Cadre who will never deliver a favourable judgment to the Petitioners.Lungu is using Chitabo to buy time and delay the Petition Hearing as long as possible. Petitioners will not get any joy from Lungu’s Courts. Lungu’s main strategy is to illegally cling to power for as it is possible. Until Lungu is compelled by an external force he will never allow the Hearing of the Petition becoz that would drive him out of power. Lungu committed so many illegalities which he would not be able to defend in a Court of Law. Lungu and his criminal election riggers would be exposed if a proper and timely Petition Hearing was allowed. On that basis Lungu will not allow the Petition to be heard by an Independent Court becoz it will reveal that Lungu never won the 2016…
@mambo Judge Chitambo worked for Ndola City Council and was appointed as high court judge by Levy Mwanawasa, the man you Upnd cadres call Mr Perfect so when did he become a PF cadre?
@38 Mambo, regional thinking will not take you anywhere. Hh has informers in courts and he happened to read Judge Chitabo’s judgement over the long weekend and it was adverse and was going to close the so called petition forever, why else do you think that your regional head donkie has asked for the Judge to recuse himself at such a late hour? If the Judge is a PF cadre as you claim, you tell me hh and his rm did not know that until yesterday? There is also the element of the tribe of Judge Chitabo, not surprising considering that the ascendancy of hh to be head of UPNDonkies was premised on regionalism anyway.
If Upnd have got structures, they must start looking for another president instead of wasting time With GBM. HH may not be the one instigating these manouvers, but GBM who must invested so much in this election so as to hit Edgar, could be the one behind this. The high court can not overturn the ruling of a superior court. The lawyers know this but will continue milking this Tom and Jerry pair. They even end up in the local court.
Why don’t you concentrate on your party, since you claim you are not pf, from your comment you not upnd, which party do you belong to, if you are non partisan then you are a fo ol, a very big fo ol.
Not been able to comment all day as I have been busy with the upnd lawyers. I cannot dwelve much into this issue for legal reasons which am sure you understand. We ask our supporters to stand firm and remain positive. We shall overcome. The rat knows this
@40 Ndanje khakis, well said. I really don’t how we can retrieve our citizens who became donkeys to become good productive citizens again. Especially with the influence of that running mate of hh. UPND was never a donkey party until rm came on the scene.
@41 NEZ, kikikikikiki….by lawyers you mean the creeps and Donkeys who failed to advise you on your petition?
What these cretins forget is that the judiciary is like appealing to a different govt independent of the executive. Its like going to Malawi for judgment i.e. if we shared the same constitution. By them saying that chitabo is Pf, can they tell us the upnd judges? What I know is that they have started to prepare the minds of their retarded supporters that should they lose they will all sing in unison that the judge was not fair. Stupid cadres can’t read in between lines. They don’t know that they are being manipulated.
These Zambian judges are useless and biase when it comes to politics especially favoring those that are in power,they are only good at defilement cases,
How does HH/GBM know that the next just will be impartial? It is the same court, same jusdges they insult everyday…
How does HH and GBM know that the next judge will be impartial,,,? It is the same court, judges they are insulting every time they lose the case!!! No sane judge will rule in their favour after being branded biased and insulted!!! Even God will not judge you fairly after insulting him,,, unless you repent!!!