Africa-Press – Zambia. President Hakainde Hichilema has been accused of instructing Constitutional Court President Margaret Munalalu to ensure that the appeal over the Kabushi and Kwacha parliamentary seats does not succeed.
When the appeal hearing came up on Tuesday morning, Justice Munalalu ordered that all the parties and Journalists leave the court room and only remained with Judges for a prolonged period.
Sources close to the matter have revealed that Justice Munalula informed the Bench that she has received instructions not to overturn the High Court decision to declare both Bowman Lusambo and Joseph Malanji ineligible to participate in the by elections.
The ConCourt President revealed that President Hichilema does not want to see Mr. Lusambo and Mr. Malanji on the ballot paper in Kabushi and Kwacha elections respectively. But divisions arose with five Judges threatening to recuse themselves from handling the appeal matter on professional grounds.
The sources disclosed that Judge Musaluke, Judge Anne Sitali, Judge Palan Mulonda, Judge Mungeni Mulenga and Judge Judy Mulongoti are the five that have threatened to abandon the appeal hearing.
The sources said the five Judges hold the view that the Kwacha and Kabushi elections were void. They said it will be suicidal for them to go against their earlier ruling that nullification of a seat does not amount to disqualification of a candidate.
The High Court sitting in Ndola failed to preside over the matter conclusively and referred all questions that the aggrieved parties presented to them to the Constitutional Court.
The Constitution Court had earlier ruled that nullification does not constitute disqualification making it difficult for the High Court to pronounce itself on the matter. The ConCourt is due to continue sitting on Wednesday to review both the Kabushi and Kwacha appeals with a new set of recently appointed Judges.
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