Africa-Press – Zambia. KWACHA Member of Parliament Hon Joseph Malanji has appealed to the Constitutional Court against the nullification of his seat. According to a Memorandum of Appeal filed in the mentioned Court, the Lawmaker appealed the ruling on 10 grounds among which is that Lusaka High Court Judge, Kazimbe Chenda erred both in law and fact in declaring his election void on account of eligibility.
He added that the Judge erred when he held that Hon Malanji did not hold a Grade 12 Certificate when in fact he did. “The court erred in both law and fact when it shifted the burden of proof from the petitioner to the respondent by holding that the onus is in the 1st Respondent (Hon Malanji) to produce a G12 Certificate when he knew or ought to have known that he who alleges must prove.
“The learned trial court contradicted himself in holding that elections were in conformity with the electoral law but isolated the issues of nomination as not part of the electoral process….the learned trail judge erred in both law and fact in holding that the petitioner has discharged its burden above the simple balance of probability on the issue of eligibility when the petitioner did not lead any evidence at all on this issue,” he stated in grounds three, four and five.
Judge Chenda nullified the seat on Friday last week on grounds that Hon Malanji, alias Bonanza, has no minimum qualification to contest parliamentary elections pursuant to article 70 sub-article one clause “D” of the constitution.
This followed a petition from United Party for National Development (UPND) losing candidate Mr Charles Mulenga. But the Judge dismissed Mr. Mulenga’s compounded grounds relating to malpractice on account of lack of merit.
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