CCZ Defends Sangwa’s Right To Express Opinions
The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has added its voice to those speaking out in defence of constitutional lawyer John Sangwa.
Sangwa was last week suspended from the courts following a complaint of professional misconduct submitted by the judiciary to the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ).
The suspension follows Sangwa’s recent comments questioning the eligibility of President Lungu to run for a third term in office in 2021, as well as the composition of the Constitutional Court.
CCZ general secretary Fr Emmanuel Chikoya has defended Sangwa’s right to express his opinions on the matter and called for the lifting of the suspension with immediate effect.
He described the move “as a ploy to instill fear and intimidation in brave lawyers and other ordinary citizens capable of standing their ground in defending the Constitution of Zambia.”
“Mr Sangwa has committed no crime to warrant his suspension from appearing in Zambian courts,” he added.
Fr Chikoya called for Sangwa’s opinion to be respected without intimidation.
He also said the “Judiciary needs brave and fearless men and women who can do anything to interpret the law in black and white in the manner Mr Sangwa does. Instead of victimizing him, the Judiciary should celebrate Mr Sangwa for defending its integrity by standing up to interpret the law as it is.”
Sangwa, who previously wrote to President Lungu setting out his concerns regarding the Court prior to their appointment, has alleged that the appointees were not suitably qualified for the posts.
“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,” Sangwa has stated.
He has also 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!” he has argued.
Following his suspension a number of people have come to his defence. These include the Civil Society Constitution Agenda (CiSCA), who have described his suspension as an attempt to silence legal practitioners on the matter. The chairperson of CiSCA, Bishop John Mambo, previously called on others to support Sangwa and described the move as “victimisation” and “a sorry development that needs critical reflection.”
“We wonder if it is now an offence for a citizen to defend the Constitution. CiSCA views the suspension of Mr Sangwa as a way of silencing other legal practitioners who may want to speak out on similar issues as he has been raising. That is not how democracy works,” Bishop Mambo stated.
Meanwhile academic Sishuwa Sishuwa attacked the move to suspend Sangwa on several grounds. According to Sishuwa the move is void on grounds of procedural impropriety.
”The court can only exercise the powers to suspend a practitioner on the recommendation from the Disciplinary Committee after all investigations and hearings have taken place,” Sishuwa writes.
Sishuwa has also argued that the suspension violates Sangwa’s constitutional right to be heard and secure protection of the law, and questioned who among the judiciary was the complainant.
Meanwhile, UPND President Hakainde Hichilema has also called for the immediate reversal of the ban.
“The Judiciary must understand that they are supposed to be the last pillar standing, with which aggrieved citizens can run to, for support when our rights are being trampled upon as is the case with John Sangwa,” Hichilema has stated.
“The draconian manner in which the Judiciary has conducted itself by suspending John Sangwa SC without due process, and without hearing his side of the story is a clear testimony on the breakdown of the rule of law in Zambia,” he continued.
