The Judiciary has proposed that the number of days for hearing a Presidential petition before the constitutional court be increased from 30 days to 45 days.
High Court Registrar Paul Chisha says the increase in the number of days will help determine the matter in a more realistic manner.
Mr Chisha says 30 days is not enough to handle a Presidential petition hence the proposal to increase it to 45 days.
Mr Chisha was speaking when the Judiciary made submissions to the Parliamentary Select Committee scrutinising the constitutional amendment bill number 10 of 2019.
And Mr Chisha said the Judiciary is also proposing that disciplinary cases for judges must be handled by the judicial Service Commission instead of Judicial Complaint Commission.
He said the judiciary has proposed the tenure of office of the Chief Justice should not be limited to ten years as it is the current constitution.
Mr Chisha has also submitted that the term adequately funding in the current constitution must be replaced by the word fully funded during a financial year.
He said once the Judiciary is fully funded it will be easy to carry out its mandate.
Mr Chisha said this in response to Kanchibiya Member of Parliament, Martin Malama, who wanted to know why adequately funding in the current constitution must be replaced with fully funding.
Meanwhile, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) has supported their earlier submission that the number of days for hearing a Presidential petition be increased from 14 to 30 days.
EFZ Chairperson Joshua Banda said the 30 days is adequate for the Constitutional court to determine the matter.
Bishop Banda also said the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation must be retained as it is in the current constitution.
He also said the fellowship does not support the ‘re-introduction of deputy ministers as it is costly.
[ZNBC]
Seven days is enough. If it is enough in France, it should be enough in Zambia. If seven days is not enough, the petitioner can simply wait another five years for the next presidential elections, why the hurry if you really want to rule Zambia?. Only five years and not seven as it is in France and Zimbabwe.
Let’s keep submitting folks. Otherwise we shouldn’t even have an petition. Its a worst of time.
Whether 1 day or 2 years those corrupted African judges will never rule independently on such matters. Why waste your time discussing things that dont work on the dark continent especially in zambia under pf. You are jokers. This is why I would rather worship my white wife’s body than live under pf in Zambia
What we need to reform is the management of elections. Our electoral system has many flaws such that even 45 days are not enough to fully hear and determine a credible election petition. Malpractices are widespread across Zambia and the whole evidence and testimonies can’t be adduced and be heard within that time frame.
Stop dreaming just change government
I agree with ayatolla @3 above that the most important thing is the proper and fair management of elections whose results must be accepted by both winners and losers, but especially the latter. It should not be people like Mumbi Phiri and Kaizer Zulu waiting for ballot papers at City airport(and looking tense) but Election officials.And yes the hearing and determining of the election Presidential petition should be 45 days so that sufficient evidence is gathered from the more than 150 constituencies across the country
Whilst you are at it can you ensure no “Minister” remains in office once the President dissolves parliament to allow for elections. Second define clearly who will be incharge of a country during the 45 days so that there is no confusion delete sentences such as “in the event” please don’t give us academic positions so that you can become ambassador to the US
@Politician, that’s the point. If we have an election that is widely accepted there won’t be any need to petition. Malpractices are quite rife especially in remote areas of Zambia. We have over 1650 Wards and each of these has more than 1 polling station. As a petitioner you’ve to bring all these witnesses who might be in hundreds. They have to be cross examined and re-examined after every testimony. Keith Mweemba will spend the whole day asking 1 witness a multitude of questions. John Sangwa will prepare a bundle of authorities bigger than the Bible. Mutembo Nchito will confuse everybody. It’s better to have a credible election than go through all that drama, it’s a circus. The judges will be divided
So who is the main Representative of the Judiciary? LAZ has already submitted its comments thru a Petition to Concourt. There is no point in commenting on this PF Bill No.10 of 2019. The Bill should be tabled in Parliament and put to a 2/3 Majority Vote thru a Secret Ballot. PF know that they don’t have a 2/3 Majority in Parliament so they are scheming on how to get the Bill passed by Parliament. This won’t be easy becoz UPND MPs have seen thru PF tactics to rig the 2/3 Majority Vote in Parliament in favour of PF. The writing is on the Wall.
Clearly there is no Consensus on the Amendment Bill No.10 of 2019. Some Stakeholders have Petitioned the Bill at Concourt, others have rejected the entire Bill or some Clauses of the Bill and others have accepted some Clauses etc. The best thing is to withdraw this Bill from Parliament so that further consultations can take place. Once a Draft is Agreed then it can be resubmitted in Parliament. Thru a Referendum People should approve the Amended Draft Constitution. There are no short cuts to this Process. PF is trying to impose its Bill on Zambians. This should be rejected at all costs. Progressive MPs in Parliament should vote against Bill 10 if it is tabled on the Floor of Parliament. Period.
One wonders why LAZ refused to table their submissions on Amendment Bill Number 10 but chose to take their grievance for not doing so to the same Judiciary that has itself made a submission to the same. LAZ has become politicized and should be unshackled from the national constitution so it can participate in politics on the same playing field as other CSOs. They have lost credibility and relevance.