High Court grants Mwangala stay of execution

The Lusaka High Court has granted an application to stay judgment of the court which nullified election results for Nalolo constituency in Western Province.
The court last week nullified the election of Nalolo constituency member of Parliament, Mubita Mwangala of the MMD, because he was not duly elected in the September 28, 2006 elections.
This is in a case in which losing United Liberal Party (ULP) candidate, Inonge Wina, had petitioned the election of Mr Mwangala and the Electoral Commission of Zambia as first and second respondents respectively.
Ms Wina had stated in the petition that the elections were held in an atmosphere which was not free and fair due to widespread electoral malpractices – vote buying, unlawful tampering with ballot papers and voter intimidation.
High Court Judge, Naboth Mwanza, granted the order following Mr Mwangala’s application for a stay of execution pending his appeal to the Supreme Court.
In his notice of appeal to the Supreme Court, Mr Mwangala stated that he was appealing against the judgment because he was not satisfied.