{"id":80694,"date":"2026-02-11T20:36:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/mathew-mohan-ineligible-for-2026-general-elections"},"modified":"2026-02-11T20:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:36:33","slug":"mathew-mohan-ineligible-for-2026-general-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/mathew-mohan-ineligible-for-2026-general-elections","title":{"rendered":"Mathew Mohan Ineligible For 2026 General Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>Mathew Mohan, was released from prison on 20th August, 2021 having been pardoned on the 19th August, 2021 by former President Edgar Chagea Lungu. He now wants to contest in the general election set for 13th August, 2026. Is he eligible fo contest as a Member of Parliament? The answer is NO and here is why:<\/p>\n<p>Article 70. (2)(b) states:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA person is disqualified from being elected as a Member of Parliament if that person has, in the immediate preceding five years, served a term of imprisonment of at least three years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The clause contains 3 requirements:<\/p>\n<p>1. The person must have served a term of imprisonment;<\/p>\n<p>2. The term must be at least three years; and<\/p>\n<p>3. That imprisonment must have been served within the immediate preceding five years.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of the clause in Article 70 is clearly to impose a five-year cooling-off period after imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>Issues for Determination<\/p>\n<p>The provision raises three interpretive questions:<\/p>\n<p>What is the meaning of \u201cserved a term of imprisonment of at least three years\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>From which date is the \u201cimmediate preceding five years\u201d calculated?<\/p>\n<p>Does Mohan fall within the disqualification window?<\/p>\n<p>Principles of Constitutional Interpretation<\/p>\n<p>A court interpreting this clause would likely apply the following principles:<\/p>\n<p>(1) Textual Interpretation<\/p>\n<p>Constitutional language must be given its ordinary grammatical meaning unless this leads to absurdity<\/p>\n<p>There is no dispute that:<\/p>\n<p>1. Mohan was sentenced to life imprisonment;<\/p>\n<p>2. He served well over three years;<\/p>\n<p>3. He was released in August 2021.<\/p>\n<p>From What Date Is the Five Years Calculated?<\/p>\n<p>The phrase says:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cdisqualified from being elected&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This suggests the relevant date is the date of election, not conviction or nomination \u2014 unless the Constitution elsewhere provides that qualifications must be satisfied at nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, the correct constitutional approach is:<\/p>\n<p>The five years runs from the date the person last served imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>Thus:<\/p>\n<p>If five full years have not elapsed between release and election \u2192 disqualified.<\/p>\n<p>If five full years have elapsed \u2192 eligible.<\/p>\n<p>FINAL CONCLUSION<\/p>\n<p>At Nomination (May 2026):<\/p>\n<p>Mohan is disqualified, because he served imprisonment within five years preceding nomination.<\/p>\n<p>At Election (13 August 2026):<\/p>\n<p>His eligibility depends on his exact release date in August 2021:<\/p>\n<p>If released before 13 August 2021 \u2192 Eligible.<\/p>\n<p>If released on\/after 13 August 2021 on 20th August, 2021 \u2192 Disqualified.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Zambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. Mathew Mohan, was released from prison on 20th August, 2021 having been pardoned on the 19th August, 2021 by former President Edgar Chagea Lungu. He now wants to contest in the general election set for 13th August, 2026. Is he eligible fo contest as a Member of Parliament? The answer is NO [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":80692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-80694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mathew Mohan Ineligible For 2026 General Elections - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/mathew-mohan-ineligible-for-2026-general-elections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mathew Mohan Ineligible For 2026 General Elections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. Mathew Mohan, was released from prison on 20th August, 2021 having been pardoned on the 19th August, 2021 by former President Edgar Chagea Lungu. He now wants to contest in the general election set for 13th August, 2026. Is he eligible fo contest as a Member of Parliament? 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