Miles Sampa withdraws application to stay consent judgment

Lusaka High Court Judge Mungeni Mulenga has set aside the application by Matero Member of Parliament Miles Sampa to join the consent judgment that declared Defence and Justice Minister Edgar Lungu as the duly elected Patriotic Front president.

This is was after Mr. Lungu’s lawyers filed a preliminary issue before Judge Mulenga who was due to hear in chambers Mr. Sampa’s application to join the consent judgment as an intervener.

Mr. Lungu’s lawyers led by Tresford Chali have argued that Mr. Sampa cannot join the consent judgment because he is an alleged contemnor owing to his participatiMILES Son in the General Conference which was stayed by a court order.

Speaking shortly after filing the preliminary issue which Judge Mulenga has accepted, Mr. Chali told journalists that his team has insisted that the contempt matter of Mr. Sampa be heard first before his application to join the consent judgment can be entertained.

Mr. Chali has explained that the argument behind this submission is based on the fact that criminal matters such as contempt set precedence over civil matters.

He says it was therefore his team’s argument whether Mr. Sampa having allegedly committed contempt should be heard over his application to join the consent judgment or not.

Mr. Chali states that it is in his team’s view that the issue of Mr. Sampa seeking to join the consent judgment must be suspended until he is cleared of the alleged contempt before his application to join the consent judgment can be heard.

Judge Mulenga has since set Monday the 22nd December, at 10:00hrs, as the date to make ruling as to whether Mr. Sampa’s application to join the consent judgment can be heard or not.

Meanwhile Mr. Sampa has withdrawn his application to stay the execution of the consent judgment that declared Edgar Lungu the PF president.

The implication of this is that Mr. Lungu will proceed on Saturday to file his nomination papers as the PF presidential candidate in the 2015 presidential election.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*