PF ward officials drag SG to court over malpractice in intra-party elections

Matero constituency’s Kapwepwe Ward 25 PF Vice-Secretary Christopher Mumbi and Ward Chairman Charles Kabwe have dragged party Secretary General Davies Mwila to court seeking an order to declare the intra-party elections held last month, null and void.

The plaintiffs, Mumbi and Kabwe, have sued Mwila in his capacity as PF SG, saying they have been greatly disadvantaged as there was no transparency and fairness in the said elections.

In a statement of claim filed in the Lusaka High Court, Thursday, the plaintiffs stated that on September 29, 2018, PF held intra-party elections for various executive positions in relation to Kapwepwe Ward 25.

They added that the said elections were not free and fair as they were characterised by unorthodox or unusual activities, which caused them to be aggrieved.

“The unorthodox activities alluded to were fraudulent and unfair, and as such, negatively affected the reliability of any purported results that have been disclosed. The election was supposed to be conducted on the basis of the branch registers, however, despite 29 branch registers having been verified, the Election Committee permitted five other branch registers to be included for purposes of election without being verified in a transparent manner,” read the statement of claim.

The plaintiffs further stated that the said elections were not announced publicly as had been the custom.

They stated that they there was evidence of bad faith as they discovered that some of the voters in the registers for PF had been fake or forged NRCs, which led to one official being arrested as a result.

The plaintiffs stated that they lodged their displeasure on how the elections were conducted to Mwila, as well as the Chairman of the Elections Committee, and the District Chairman for Lusaka on September 30.

They stated that they had greatly been disadvantaged by the manner in which Mwila and the Election Committee handled the elections as there was no transparency and fairness.

The plaintiffs stated that due to this lack of transparency, PF members in Kapwepwe Ward 25 were divided and there was a likelihood of the two opposing camps clashing with each other.

They are now seeking for an order declaring PF’s intra-party elections held on September 29 this year for Kapwepwe Ward 25, null and void.

The plaintiffs are further demanding for an order of interim injunction restraining Mwila either by himself or through his agents from performing Kapwepwe Ward 25 functions until final determination of the matter, as well as, costs and any other relief the court may deem fit.

Source: News Diggers