The Young African Leaders Initiative – YALI – has clarified that President Lungu’s eligibility to contest 2021 elections settled conclusively by the Constitutional Court which defined what a term of office is and what it means to hold office of President.
During a media briefing at Mika Lodge this morning, YALI President Andrew Ntewewe exclusively quoted page 83 in which the Court stated that “the Presidential term of office that ran from 25 th January, 2015 to 13 th September, 2016 and straddled two constitutional regimes cannot be considered as a full term.”
Mr Ntewewe also said the Court pronounced itself on what it means to hold office twice as stated by Article 106(3) of the Constitution when the Court clarified that a President can only hold office if he served a term of 3 years and above.
He said that page J82 of the Judgment, the Court said clauses in Article 106 cannot be isolated from each other in interpreting the article and that an interpretation of a constitutional provision that isolates the provisions touching on the same subject is faulty.
“Therefore, to state that Article 106 (3) applies to the term that straddled two constitutional regimes but that Article 106 (6) does not, is to isolate Article 106 (3) from the rest of the provisions in Article 106 which is untenable at law, and is at variance with the tenets of constitutional interpretation, as all the provisions on the tenure of office of the President must be read together. The provision regarding the full term must be applied to defining what is meant by twice held office under Article 106 (3) in interpreting the provisions of that Article,” read part of the Judgment
YALI has stated said the mere act of swearing-in a President once or twice does not constitute holding of office but that the length of time for which one was in office of the President determines whether a person held office or not.
Mr. Ntewewe gave an example of what the Court stated on page J78 that “under Article 106 (6) (b) it is now possible for one to occupy the office of President for a
2
period which is less than a full term in addition to two full terms of office. Meaning that a President can be in the office for a total of almost 13 years.”
Mr. Ntewewe said the Court was clear that a President can be sworn into office for 3 times during 13 years and constitutionally to be holding office twice as long as the other period he was sworn in was less than 3 years.
Mr. Ntewewe has since questioned the motive behind State Counsel John Sangwa’s approach and called on him to forever hold his peace if cannot respect the position and pronouncement of the Court, regardless of whether he disagrees with that position.
A consignment of Guibourtia wood bound for Vietnam and worth over RM9mil was stopped by the authorities
Customs officers conducted a check on the shipping container at the Tanjung Pelepas port and seized the illegal wood from Zambia.
Guibourtia wood is a controlled item under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Special of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).
Johor Customs director Datuk Mohammad Hamidan Maryani said any shipment would need an export permit from the exporting country.
“We found 115 pieces weighing about 30,580kg in the container.
The wood is worth 2.9 million dollars equivalent to about 30 million Kwacha. Our sources have confirmed to our Team of Analysts that the owners of the confiscated wood belongs to a group of “Politically exposed Persons”. BA POMPWE!…
Mr Sangwa has the right as he said to say something but being one of those who lost the same case today he’s trying to make noise with doesn’t make sense as for me,he just want to show that he also abeat have a knowledge of the law, let him make that noise as long as news reporters are there for him
Kennedy Njobvu. I dont think your keyboard is working properly today
This is beginning to look like Frederick Chiluba’s 3rd Term bid. Too much talk.
You’re talking too much about it and voters might surprise you in 2021. You’re playing into the trap of UPND
Is Sangwa afraid of Edgar or what. The entire countrywide has endorsed Edgar, so what is the issue????? Sangwa should talk about HH who has never held any conversion to taste his relevance to UPND. Even briefcase political parties have had their conversions but hh has never had one. Is hh democratic Zambians. Nkombo, Mwiimbu and Mwetwa are talktive but they have kept about holding and challenging s@t@n1st.
Please let him contest so that he cries like RB. The most incompetent president on earth!
Sangwa indicated that according to the constitution, anyone can challenge the candidature ECL when he files in his presidential nomination and it is only at that time when the issue of whether He is eligible or not eligible will be settled.
Where is YALI with their voice when citizens are gassed?
THIS IS A VERY USELESS AND RUBBISH NGO .EVEN THE ONE TALKING IS AN *****.
This YALI guy is a through and through PF cader……
YALI must be bankrolled by GRZ to survive and support PF and lungu
Sangwa is in panic mode. He wants to remain relevant to UPND. Question is why is he scared of Lungu?
Sangwa needs to focus on his divorce than this nonsense the UPND and LAZ are putting him to. Its denting his image big time.
Some lawyers dont learn. This is same YALI that tod LAZ law was not on its side in Bill 10 case, Sangwa went ahead only to retreat later. This is same YALI that told em 14 dez were 14 days, Sangwa eat UPND money and HH remained disappointed. Listening to Sangwa is dangerous at this point.
I agree, the lawyers YALI has damn good lawyers! Opposition re better listening to YALI than Sangwa and LAZ combined.
Eish, these yali boys are something else. I never knew the court said it all about holding office, true, its not swearing in that matter but how long one was in office. Chaps re good at readin law
Jon Sangwa is guilty he didnt deliver 2016 presidential petition; he has guilty conscience he didnt deliver for LAZ; Sangwa is guilty for so many things his law firm got money for but it didn’t work. At least this term and hold office thing is now clearly explained. YALI u just the best. I never took u seriously but u proven over time you know law
Careful with these people…they are trying to distract you from the gassing debacle just like the market fires. Nothing is going to stop that moron to stand even when the Concourt court cowered from passing judgement; they lamentable failed to do their job.
Whenever YALI holds a presser it’s because they need to come to the defence of Lungu and his PF government. They should just have an office at the PF secretariat because it’s getting harder to differentiate a statement from Ntwewe and Sunday Chanda.
To all who love the Rule of Law, the Constitution is very clear on what needs to be done on this matter!
For the sake of peace, let this man stand. It seems he is not satisfied that by 2021, he will have served 8 years out of the 10 years for a two full term period. I’m still left to wonder why RB was not allowed our courts after only serving from 2008 to 2011. What does YALI have to say about this discrepancy court rulings seeing they claim to know better than the Learned SC and Specialist in Constitutional Law???
The saddest thing is being President of Zambia and being supported by such an id10t and Chilufya Tayali. It says it all and calls for a change of government. It goes to show that these brief case NGOs are useless. No knowledge of the constitution or governance. Just sitting in the background and waiting for breadcrumbs after barking out loud. These f00ls are in a competition of ‘who’ makes the loudest noise. And the ‘Igwe’ proudly rewards them. Where does this ntewewe…name like that of a parasite work? We do not need these carriers of Corona virus to spread their filthy. Ignore the id10t. While it, tell that Kaizer ‘the self made’ CIA that time for stupidity is over. This is not about opposition but Zambian as lone rangers.
Even if the concourt says the world is flat we all know that the world is round.
The problem is that there’s so much lawlessness in the country and it’s supported by the Courts. Daniel Pule, one of the petitioners in the Edgar eligibility case runs an illegal Party. The Constitution is very clear on faith based political Parties yet the ConCourt elected to entertain him. That’s why they pass judgements that can’t be enforced against the Executive. Zambia is a big laughingstock
YALE is correct. Sangwa and his UPND are wrong. Sangwa seem to have lost the respect he enjoyed coz of his association with UPND. How can a good lawyer spend so much time in these worthless sponsored public forums. Something is wrong.
Ntewew is putting words in the Concourt mouth by saying that the president can be sworn for three times .lie.the judgement was that the incumbent did not serve a full term,that is ,the first term and on the eligibility the court didn’t make any consideration.therefor the president did not serve a full term but has held the office two times
When an established constitutional lawyer fails to interpret the law and respect a ruling from the highest Court in the land, and guys like Andrew Ntewewe can reason better, then you’ll understand why our country is behind. A big shame on John Sangwa. Continue being a guiding light Andrew. Does everybody understand why cadres get more attention than these intellectuals???
This typical of NGO boys claiming to speak for people. Just sit down and eat quietly. The seasoned lawyer has clarified the matter. Lungu is not eligible to stand. He contested the elections twice what else does he want. He will be arrested after losing elections
Don’t expect any sensible response from these hunger stricken YALI boys and the poverty can blind these guys. Why not register YALI as political stooge for PF?
After all is said and done, we have the worst president in the history of Zambia. He can only be beaten by Trible HH in the unlikely event that he became the first president of Zambia with a Trible agenda. Given that scenario, do we still want Trible HH as president? When it’s clear that he would be the worst president in Zambia or even worse.
Please we don’t Lungu to rule Zambia for another term. This guy has made Zambia hell for millions of the citizens.
Very disappointing to hear a state council interpreting the law and judgment which was passed in court like that very very bad indeed.What is a term by interpretation?The judgment was clear for Mr Sangwa to understand as a learned person but suffice to say Mr Sangwa is bitting about the bush,pretending not to understand the verdict confusing hh,ck.Gary Nkombo,Mweetwa and others who have fallen in the same trap.Very shamefull bwana.
The ConCourt Ruled on the Term of Office, yes! But did the ConCourt Rule on Lungu’s being Elected into Office twice? Or, did the ConCourt decide as to whether or not the definition of the Term of Office applies to an Elected, Sitting President, or to a Vice -President who completes the Term of a departed Substantive President? Shouldn’t the Presidential Candidate all the criteria set for Eligibility, including the Terms of Office, and the Number of Times Elected into Office. The take is that all Qualifying Criteria must be satisfied. Therefore, President Lungu does NOT qualify, because he has already Twice been Elected to the Office of the Zambian Republican Presidency!
Constitutionally he doesn’t qualify. Politically he does. It will now be a force majeure to enforce either…
“A person who has served two terms shall not be eligible”. If the constitution had used the words “term of office” instead of “held office”, the President could well stand again because a term of office is at least five years. However,“holding office” is only the period between two swearing-ins. This could be five years or it could indeed be eighteen months. The restriction on holding office is contained in Article 106(2) which states: “A President shall hold office from the date the President-elect is sworn into office and ending on the date the next President-elect is sworn into office”. The question to ask, therefore, is this: did President Lungu hold office from the date he was sworn-in, in 2015 to the date the next President (i.e. himself) was sworn-in, in 2016? If the answer to…
If the answer to this question is “yes” then he has already held office once. If he resigns tomorrow and his office falls vacant and Mrs. Inonge Wina is sworn-in, he will have “held office” twice even though he will not have served even one term. It appears that the expressions “term of office” and “hold office” (or “held office“) do not mean the same thing.
STATE COUNCIL AND LONG TIME ACADEMICIAN JOHN SANGWA IS RIGHT NOT UTU TUMA NGO LOOKING FOR NSIMA NA CHIBWABWA. SANGWA HAS WARNED PF THAT YOU MUST READ AND READ OTHERWISE ON THE NOMINATION DAY YOU WILL BE CAUGHT PANTS DOWN. SANGWA IS NOT SCARED OF LUNGU HE IS SACRED OF THE PRECEDENT ABOUT TO BE SET IN ZAMBIA AGAINST DEMOCRACY. AFTER LUNGU ANOTHER ONE WILL COME NAMA LILISHO AT I HAVEN’T SERVED THE FULL TERM AND THIS WILL GO ON AND ON…
HE IS SCARED OF THE PRECEDENT