from ARNOLD MULENGA in Lusaka, Zambia
Zambia Bureau
LUSAKA, (CAJ News) – THE partiality of Zambia’s judiciary will be put to the test on Thursday (today) when the Constitutional Court begins a hearing into the eligibility of former president, Edgar Lungu, to contest the next election.
Courts have taken a centre stage in a dramatic few weeks.
This has culminated in Lungu (67) alleging this week that current president, Hakainde Hichilema (62), was meddling in the judiciary, so as to influence judges to rule against him participating in the polls set for 2026.
He made the allegations in an “address to the nation.”
The eligibility of Lungu in the previous and next election is a divisive issue in Zambia, where the constitution stipulates two terms.
He was elected in presidential by-election in 2015 after the death of Michael Sata, the previous year.
Lungu, of the Patriotic Front (PF) won the 2026 presidential elections, for a full term.
Thus, the argument by the Lungu camp is that he served a single term as the first one was to finish Sata’s term.
This issue of eligibility again overshadowed the run-up to the 2021 polls but the Constitutional Court ruled Lungu was eligible.
He lost to Hichilema, retired from politics, returned to save his party from infighting and now wants another shot at the presidency.
However, Lungu alleges a ploy by Hichilema and his United Party for National Development (UPND) to scuttle his ambitions after latest petitions seeking his disqualification over term limits.
“This (eligibility) matter has been settled by the Constitutional Court,” the ex-president said.
“The re-opening of what was settled remains illegal and a clear act of lawlessness,” Lungu added.
“It is now common knowledge that the petitioners are surrogates of State House and the UPND,” he alleged.
Lungu has raised a petition of recusal, on the need for some judges determining his eligibility to recuse themselves. This amid fears they were biased and aligned to Hichilema.
Lungu recently approached the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC) but the latter advised him to raise that issue at the Constitutional Court.
In a fresh twist, Hichilema in late September suspended three Constitutional Court judges said to have dismissed his petition against the election of Lungu in the closely fought election.
They ruled in favour of Lungu contesting in 2021, and were to be part of Thursday’s proceedings.
The presidency said the trio had been suspended for “judicial misconduct.”
“The suspension of the three is in exercise of the powers vested in the president,” Hichilema’s office stated.
Critics accuse him of being a dictator since assuming power.
Members of the Lungu family have been the subject of a crackdown against alleged corruption.
Last week, the Economic and Financial Crimes Court ordered the forfeiture of 15 flats belonging to the former first lady, Esther Lungu.
The residential properties are deemed to be proceeds of corruption.
– CAJ News