{"id":99875,"date":"2024-10-21T12:03:32","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T12:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/10\/21\/zambian-president-sacks-top-judges-who-ruled-in-favour-of-his-rival-2\/"},"modified":"2024-10-21T12:03:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T12:03:32","slug":"zambian-president-sacks-top-judges-who-ruled-in-favour-of-his-rival-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/zambian-president-sacks-top-judges-who-ruled-in-favour-of-his-rival-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Zambian president sacks top judges who ruled in favour of his rival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Zambia\u2019s President Hakainde Hichilema has now sacked three top judges\u00a0he previously suspended<\/a>\u00a0over alleged judicial misconduct, drawing further accusations of political interference in the judiciary.<\/p>\n

The three Constitutional Court judges presided over a presidential petition in 2016 in which they dismissed Hichilema\u2019s challenge against the election victory of former President Edgar Lungu.<\/p>\n

They also took part in a controversial ruling allowing Lungu to stand in the 2021 elections, despite having twice served as Zambia\u2019s president.<\/p>\n

Their dismissal comes after they lost a court application for a review of a judicial panel\u2019s decision recommending their suspension.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

On Sunday evening, a statement released by the presidency said they had been \u201cremoved with immediate effect\u201d following a recommendation by the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe removal of the judges is in exercise of the powers vested in the President under [the Zambian constitution],\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

The three judges \u2013 Justice Annie Sitali, Justice Mungeni Mulenga, and Justice Palan Mulonda \u2013 have not publicly commented on the matter.<\/p>\n

The JCC had investigated them over allegations of gross misconduct following a complaint by Moses Kalonde, a private citizen.<\/p>\n

Last year, the JCC rejected a complaint from lawyer Joseph Busenga, who had petitioned for the removal of the three judges, alleging that they had mishandled the 2016 election petition.<\/p>\n

There has been mixed reactions to the dismissal of the judges.<\/p>\n

Political tensions have been in rising in Zambia ahead of elections in 2026, when Hichilema and Lungu are expected to face each other for a fourth time.<\/p>\n

Social and political commentator Laura Miti says informed Zambians are split between those who feel this is a legal but self-serving move by the president and others who back him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy view is that the judges misbehaved spectacularly in the presidential petition in 2016. That being true this comes across as the president exacting revenge for their judgment which is highly concerning,\u201d she told the BBC.<\/p>\n

But Makebi Zulu, Lungu\u2019s lawyer in the case, termed the move an \u201cillegality\u201d telling the BBC that \u201cit was executive overreach aimed at interfering with the independence of the judiciary\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo judge should be disciplined for carrying out their judicial function,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Under Zambia\u2019s constitution, all judges, including the chief justice, are appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the JCC and with the approval of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

Political analyst Sishuwa Sishuw says the \u201creality is that we will always have the problem of incompetent and unqualified judges as long as the process of appointment is led by the executive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does not matter who is in power,\u201d\u00a0he posted on X<\/a>, adding that a \u201cstructured and broad-minded approach\u201d is more beneficial than \u201ctargeted and individual changes\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The post Zambian president sacks top judges who ruled in favour of his rival<\/a> first appeared on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The post Zambian president sacks top judges who ruled in favour of his rival<\/a> appeared first on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zambia\u2019s President Hakainde Hichilema has now sacked three top judges\u00a0he previously suspended\u00a0over alleged judicial misconduct, drawing further accusations of political interference in the judiciary. The three Constitutional Court judges presided over a presidential petition in 2016 in which they dismissed Hichilema\u2019s challenge against the election victory of former President Edgar Lungu. They also took part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}