Leader of the opposition Jack Mwiimbu has commenced judicial review proceedings before the Lusaka High Court over the Speaker’s decision to allow debate on the Constitution Amendment Bill Number 10 of 2019.
Mr. Mwiimbu wants the Court to halt the debate in Parliament over the bill saying the bill’s life elapsed on June 2, 2020.
Lawyer representing Mr. Mwiimbu, Mulambo Haimbe confirmed the development in an interview.
The UPND this week maintained that Parliament should not make a mistake of retabling Bill 10 of 2019 as the party will be left with no choice but to seek legal redress through the courts of law.
The party has further revealed that the Patriotic Front’s interest in Bill 10 lies in the repealing of Article 52 (4) of the current Republican constitution as amended in 2016 which empowers citizens to challenge the nomination of a presidential candidate.
At a media briefing this week, UPND deputy national spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa says by his own confession, Chief Government parliamentary whip Brian Mundubile agreed that Bill 10 lapsed on June 4th,2020 in accordance with procedures and practice of parliament on the lifespan of Bills.
Mr. Mweetwa said the fact that the Bill died twenty days before the Standing Orders Committee decided to defer it to another day is indisputable while what is in dispute is whether the Standing Orders Committee has the jurisdiction to defer a dead Bill to another day.
“What is in dispute is the question on whether the parliamentary Standing Orders Committee operated within its ambits to extend the life of a bill whose life expired 20 days before. What is a fact is that the committee can only give life to a Bill which still has life left in it. This is the position of the UPND legally and procedurally. There is no law which allows the Standing Orders Committee to resurrect any dead Bill”, he said.
Mr. Mweetwa added that the UPND would have no option but to seek legal action and seek interpretation on the provisions of the law surrounding the issue should the PF and Parliament opt to bring the bill back on the order paper as announced by Justice Minister Given Lubinda on the floor of the House.
The UPND Deputy National Spokesman further revealed that the PF interest on Bill 10 is to tamper with Article 52 which provided for challenging the nomination of a presidential candidate by a citizen.
“The PF is scared that President Edgar Lungu’s candidature is likely to be challenged using Article 52(4) of the current constitution hence wanting to repeal the said article using section 12 of Bill 10. The issues in bill10 such as the return of deputy ministers, coalition government, dissolution of parliament were not part of the original plan. These were deliberately introduced to create a ploy to cause confusion. The PF should deal with issues that affect the governance of this country and not those that are political in nature. The PF should not attempt to remove the rights of the people in the constitution to challenge any illegalities” he said.
Yayayayayayaya ………. I like this debate and winangu azalila. and ours eyes are on you ba PF, we are watching you
HahHahahahahHh what did I say? They have started even before elections. Running to courts and yet they are failing to debate. If you feel you have a valid argument then why walk out of parliament but be quick to run to court. In 2021 elections we don’t want this behaviour nga mwalusa. Accept results and move on you childish jokers
The Zambian judicial system and in particular constitutional court on trial. What is indisputable is the speaker Mr Matibini will not be part of the bench.
Which one is easier, debating the bill and voting against it yourselves or asking judges to do it for you.
Law makers must have confidence in themselves and not solely rely on courts whose duty is only to interpret whats from the legislative house.
HH and his blind follows have finally finished all the space on the pitch that they have nowhere else to change the goal post to. they have no more guts but to go to a tennis court. that’s Bally and his army worms for you.
Running to the courts when they keep on saying bill 10 is dead and they dont trust our judiciary.How do you take that which is dead to court! Go and debate in parliament.On radio stations you talk alot in parliament you run away.
Mydelekezi at work. He was cast out of heaven and goes to and fro to deceive the inhabitants of Zambia. Have confidence to debate than wait for opportunities to walk out of parliament or go to court. I can see someone boycotting next year’s elections, ati…… because of Bill 10.
This is the beauty about legal literacy and excellence. Now the ball is in Matibini’s Court. We anxiously wait to see if Matibini will retable this dead Bill on the Order Paper since he claims to be above the law and can interpret the Law and the Constitution. Which way Mr Speaker of Parliament?
Cowards they are. They cannot debate and yet they it to court. When they lose at court they will say the judges are not qualified. We will tell them you did not understand the constitution. They will say no it is not us but the constitution falls short. Then will tell them “lets amend the constitution”. When we bring the constuitution for debate in parliament, they will again run away. What kind of people are these?
What debates na imwe! How many times will PF keep on bringing to parliament Bill 10. At first they failed to secure numbers and said because of covind-19, went to buy people from all works of life and brought Bill 10 failed again to have enough numbers and defer it to a later date. But wait a minute, the bill is dead its life span of six months elapsed 23 days ago, PF still wanted to bring a dead bill to parliament. What debate should be given to dead Bill 10 whan all Zambians have rejected it including traditional leaders that were bought by PF regime. Bring something else, lets debate poverty, youth unemployment and good governance issues in Zambia.
UP & DOWN Party with no Direction. Let it be known to you that with or without you, THE PEOPLE representatives will pass bill 10
Lusaka High Court? You should have filed in Mongu High Court
This is a tough choice for the Speaker of Parliament. If he retables the Bill he will be defying the High Court and if he refuses to table the Bible he will be disobeying and annoyo6 the PF. The Speaker is between a Rock and a Hard Place. Better to leave dogs lie!
A nation of backward and primitive peoples. Learn to follow your laws What is the point of having a country without a constitutional order? What kind of government is this? Please let each province go it’s separate way. We need a Yugoslav style of dissolution of the Zambian state. We are tired of sharing a country with idi-yots who are forever stuck on stu.pee-di.
@Kaizer, are you back from your failed mission of attempted ringing in Malawi with your fellow crooks in Xavie and Katele? I wish the amalume shamwalis in Nyasaland had seen you off with broken legs to deter you from future mischivious deeds!
The Malawi failed mission shows that the do as I say Juju from Seer 1 is no longer perfoming…and it should worry you the more going into 2021 elections. Next year Bally will carry the day by a landslide so much that no matter how much you try to bury his votes in grave yards it won’t be enough to steal victory from him!
Everyone is entitled to commence proceedings in the Court of law…..The other party is free to defend or not….. This is a country of laws not for and against men but for the rule of law……Everyone is free to do argue or not in parliament or even walk out in protest…….
Personally , I don’t take side because I prefer to apply an independent mind to issues at hand….. That is the hallmark of every lawyer in Zambia . My view is never paramount but the Court is the final arbiter to all disputes in Zambia .
If the Speaker erred in law and fact , the a member has the right to issue court process against the State pursuant to State Proceeding Act. The Speaker can not a judge in his own case but he is to be represented by Attorney General .
The matter will be argued and the…
Headless chickens indeed. You have the power to debate the bill in parliament and yet run to court. Meanwhile 2021 is coming fast just like 2016 did.
Instead of Constitutional Court some part goes to the High Court
Very nice move. has the bill not been in the grave for a month now since it died on June 4, 2020 and this is July 3, 2020?
No focus, they boycotted National indaba, walked out of parliament now they want the court to rule on a matter which they are not part of from it’s inception
Mr.Jack Mwiimbu and his upnd MPz have the strength to debate on radio stations and hotels about bill 10 but fail to do the same in parliament, very strange indeed.
Look at the PF rats aboveblead by KZ using multiple names ……..
Ati
“why are you afraid to debate in parliament ….? ”
Then we ask the same rats why are they afraid of free and fair elections ?
Why block opposition rallies and radio talk shows ??
@Masters
They have shamed, defaced and sputtered scorn on the Constitutional Court judges in last encounters.
Hon. Jack Mwiimbu wanted to sue in the Chilenje local court, but the youthful MP, Cornelius Mweetwa, helped file in Lusaka High Court…lol
PF Desperadoes trying to make a corpse walk. A dead bill is a dead bill. Why are you PF fooools trying to resurrect a bill that died a natural death? Because of your inability to understand that a dead bill cannot be brought back to Parliament for debate, that’s why these guys are trying to go to court, so the judge can help you rub your two brain cells together, just so you can comprehend that. And here is a sincere question to all you PF desperadoes, including you Kaizar Joseph Goebbels Zulu: Why don’t you apply this same energy, you’re applying to passing BILL 10, to fix the economy, end corruption, end load shedding, help create jobs, fix the health care system, fix the ever depreciating Kwacha, etc ? Why don’t you apply your energy to that? Ask gangster Lungu that same…
… question, including Lubinda. That’s right. You know why. It’s because that’s not where your interest lies. You’re way too corrupt to care about such matters. That’s why you’ve invested all your energy in passing this dead bill by any means necessary, not for the benefit of the suffering Zambians under your regime, but for your own selfish benefit. You organized crime syndicate have nothing of value to give to the Zambians, and you’ve seen the writing on the wall; hence the desperation to try and have this dead bill brought back to life and passed, which will enable you to control parliament at will, eventually lead to a one party State. We know your shenanigans, you desperadoes. Just be patient, we’ll direct you to your prison cells soon. There’s no escaping justice. We…
… have to recover all that you’ve stolen from the Zambian people.
Cat & Mouse games at play now. Both parties are using delaying tactics. PF has deferred voting on bill whenever the numbers are not in their favour. UPND has gone to high Court, then may go to Supreme court & finally Concourt to buy further time…. meanwhile Bill 10 is still with the undertaker.
Concur with @Kalaba wa ku luapula, @konikoti, @consitance lwindi and especially @UsZambians for writing… ‘cast out of heaven to deceive us.’
UPND the same reaction, every election, every election loss……straight to every court in the land, like Kudos said, “until they get into the baby cot…. ( court)”!!
The Bill is beneficial to UPND as it lengthens the time to appeal election results from 14 days to 30 days….look what happened last election when we had to interpret what 14 days is in legal terms! Tiresome GANG. This ain’t no political party!
Vexatious litigant. Your Learned Judiciary please throw out these bandit petitions especially since they believe the Judges at Con Court are unlearned.
The purpose is to tie the bill in court, with appeal after appeal using argumentative reasoning. We know how vexatious UPND is. This is an alternative to refusing Parliamentary debate which in itself is a constitutional breach!!
Bill 10 lapsed on June 4,2021. There is 10 Months between now and August 12,2021 for the PF Govt to reintroduce a new Constitutional Amendment Bill 10 with consensus from all Stakeholders. PF doesn’t want to do this becoz Bill 10 is loaded with rigging schemes which PF wants to start implementing now. This just confirms that Bill 10 is evil and must be resisted at all costs. If Bill 10 becomes law then Zambians must prepare for violent and disputable Elections next year. The writing is on the wall.