Judge Chitabo to hear HH’s rights to be heard case on Monday

Lusaka High Court judge Mwila Chitabo has set Monday as date for hearing UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema’s case in which he is alleging that his rights to be heard over a presidential election petition was violated.

Judge Chitabo set the date August 20 yesterday in chambers after both lawyers for Hichilema and his vice-president for administration Geoffrey Mwamba and the State appeared before him.

Hichilema was represented by Simeza Sangwa and Associates while the State was represented by principal State advocate Francis Mwale.

The Supreme Court last week dismissed with costs an appeal by Hichilema and Mwamba in which they wanted judge Chitabo to recuse himself from handling the matter in which they have contended that their rights were infringed upon in the presidential election petition which was dismissed by the Constitutional Court in 2016 for want of prosecution.

The Supreme Court said Hichilema and Mwamba used a wrong mode of appeal instead of appealing to the Court of Appeal, they appealed to the Supreme Court who had no jurisdiction.

The Attorney General had raised preliminary issues on the appeal and submitted that the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to hear an appeal of that nature.

The State had also argued that since the appeal was on the recusal and not the Bill of Rights, it was supposed to go to the Court of Appeal and not Supreme Court.

After considering submissions from both parties, the Supreme Court that sat in Kabwe last week dismissed the appeal with costs because it had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal.

Source: The Mast