ConCourt Composition Questioned
As the debate concerning President Lungu’s eligibility to run for a third term in office in 2021 rumbles on, constitutional lawyer John Sangwa has criticised the composition of the Constitutional Court.
The creation of the Constitutional Court happened during President Lungu’s first term in office. His appointment of six judges to the court in March 2016 sparked controversy when it was alleged that none of them met the criteria for the appointment.
According to opposition and civil society figures at the time, three of the six appointees also had questionable links to the President himself. Two are thought to have been classmates of Lungu’s from law school, with the third allegedly a relative.
At the time of their appointment Sangwa was among those to sound a warning, writing to President Lungu setting out his concerns. With a majority in Parliament, however, the PF was able to ratify the nominations.
Sangwa has raised the issue again this week, alleging that President Lungu and the Constitutional Court judges acted corruptly in offering and accepting job offers for positions for which they did not qualify.
“It’s like in any other position, you get someone who is not qualified, and you put them there, do you think that person will make any ruling against you?” Sangwa has stated.
“If you have never done Constitutional law in your life then you are not qualified, so when you take up a position in the Constitutional Court, that’s a bribe! You must have served for 15 years at the bar to be able to qualify. You must have been a legal practitioner and you must have done some work in the area of Constitutional law,” he added.
The third term debate centres around a provision in the constitution that specifies a strict two term limit for the presidency. However, there is a disagreement over whether President Lungu’s first term counts, as he served for only 18 months after elections in January 2015 which were prompted by the death of former President Michael Sata in 2014.
Sangwa has argued that because President Lungu has been elected twice he cannot seek a third term.
“When you read the language of the Constitution, it is very clear. The bottom line is President Lungu does not qualify to stand in 2021, the issue is as simple as that. The Constitution does not talk about the number of times you serve, it is the number of times you get elected… There is no provision for a third term in our Constitution!” Sangwa has stated.
Sangwa has also claimed that once President Lungu filed his nomination it can be challenged so long as the controversial Bill 10 has not been passed. Among its provisions are a repeal of the right to challenge the nomination of a presidential candidate.
NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili has also disputed the President’s eligibility.
“Actually the court misdirected itself when it started talking about the length of the presidential term. Nobody took anybody to court to complain about the period of the presidential term. What people went to court for, was the fact that can a President who has been elected twice and sworn in twice, run for office?” Kambwili has stated.
The NDC leader has also warned on the challenge presented by Bill 10 claiming, “The catch here is that PF is desperate to push Bill 10, the reason is in Bill 10, they want to remove one cardinal law which states that ‘anybody can challenge the nomination of somebody who has been nominated to run for Presidency’.”
However, on the other side of the debate stands the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), which claims that the question of the President’s eligibility in 2021 has already been settled decisively by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the period January 2015 to September 2016 cannot be considered a full term. The group argue that the important issue is not whether a president has been sworn in or not, but the duration of his term.
According to the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) President Eddie Mwitwa, the Constitutional Court has not confirmed President Lungu’s eligibility for the poll.
Mwitwa last week stated that the Court has not ruled on President Lungu’s eligibility specifically and that there will therefore be an opportunity to contest the nominations prior to elections given that President Lungu was not a party to the previous court case.
PF Secretary General Davies Mwila has also defended the President’s right to run, labelling John Sangwa dull and urging him to stay away from politics.
