Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Constitutional Court has ruled that nine Patriotic Front (PF) Members of Parliament whose elections were nullified by the High Court should resume parliamentary representation of their respective constituencies pending the outcome of their appeals.
The ruling which was delivered by Constitutional Court Judge, Palan Mulonda, follows a petition by the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) that sought the court’s ruling whether the Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti was in order to bar the nine lawmakers from the house.
The association had asked the court to interpret Articles 72 and 73 of the Republican Constitution which the Speaker used to bar the nine PF Members of Parliament.
In his ruling, Judge Mulonda ruled that the Speaker should not have sent the nine Members of Parliament away because they appealed against the high court’s decision to nullify their seats which operation means that they retained their seats in Parliament until the determination of their appeals by the constitutional court.
On 7th December, 2021, Ms. Mutti ordered Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo and eight other PF Members of Parliament whose seats were nullified by the High Court to stop attending parliamentary sittings until their appeals were heard and determined by the Constitutional court.