Lusaka, Zambia – Barely three days after the Constitutional Court dismissed a similar application, a fresh lawsuit has been filed seeking to cite Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti, Minister of Justice Princess Kasune, and other lawmakers for contempt of court.
The new application has been filed by jailed former Lumezi lawmaker Munir Zulu and Lusaka lawyer Celestine Mukandila. It targets Ms. Mutti, Ms. Kasune, the Speaker’s deputies, and all parliamentarians.
The petitioners allege that the decision to reintroduce the controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 7 of 2025 is unconstitutional and in direct disregard of a previous Constitutional Court judgment. They argue that the court’s ruling on June 7, 2025, declared the original process leading to Bill 7 unconstitutional due to a lack of mandatory consultation.
This follows an earlier interlocutory application by the same petitioners, which was dismissed earlier this week by Constitutional Court Judge Judy Mulongoti. The judge ruled that application was “misconceived” because the main petition from which the alleged contempt arose had already been disposed of.
In their new filing, Zulu and Mukandila contend that the June judgment rendered Bill 7 unconstitutional for contravening several articles of the 2016 Constitution. They assert that the court ordered wide consultation and the correct procedure to be followed.
The petitioners argue that, in disregard of this judgment, the Speaker and others proceeded to reintroduce Bill 7 in the National Assembly and constituted a committee to review it with the intention of passing it into law. They are now seeking an order for the Speaker and the other named parties to be cited for contempt of court.
