ZAMBIAN COURT REJECTS THE OPPOSITION BID TO BLOCK LUNGU'S INAUGURATION

Zambia court rejects opposition bid to block Lungu's inauguration
Zambia's President Edgar Lungu attends a signing ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 8, 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo
Zambia's Supreme Court has rejected an application by the main opposition party to stop President Edgar Lungu's inauguration, set for Tuesday after last month's contested election, a lawyer for the opposition leader said on Monday.
The election row - which followed violence between rival campaign supporters in what is otherwise considered one of Africa's most stable democracies - could damage Zambia's ability to attract investment critical to reviving the economy.
"The court has declined to grant the application on grounds that as a single judge he has no jurisdiction," Keith Mweemba, a lawyer for opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema told journalists.
Lungu's inauguration after the Aug. 11 election was postponed because Hichilema challenged the result in court, saying the vote was rigged. A law introduced in January says the winner of a presidential vote cannot be sworn in if their victory is contested in court.
On Friday the Lusaka High Court threw out an attempt by Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hichilema to overturn a Constitutional Court decision not to give him more time to legally challenge Lungu's re-election.
Mweemba said his clients planned to file another application before the full bench of the Supreme Court.
Zambia will press on with swearing in its president for another five-year-term on Tuesday after Lungu won 50.35 percent of the vote according to the official results.
Prospects for resuming critical budget support talks with the International Monetary Fund have been dimmed by delays in swearing in a new head of state.
Lungu has been the head of the ruling Patriotic Front since its leader, Michael Sata, died in 2014. He won the presidency the following year, defeating Hichilema in their first electoral confrontation.
In a separate ruling, the broadcasting regulator lifted the suspension of Muvi TV, the nation's largest private television station after the station admitted to producing "unfair and unbalanced content" during the election period.

In August the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) suspended the licenses of three private broadcasters, saying they had conducted themselves in an "unprofessional manner" during and after the election. The IBA said the station's coverage "posed a risk to national peace and stability, but gave no details.

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Hichilema Takes Presidential Petition To The High Court

Losing presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema says his party will go to the High Court over their dismissed petition before the Constitutional Court.
Speaking to the BBC’s Akwesi Sampong on the Focus on Africa programme, Hichilema said the scheduled inauguration next Tuesday was illegal.
The UPND leader who saw his spirited court challenge against the election of President Edgar Lungu said the UPND petition was dismissed by three mischievous judges in apparent reference to the trio that did not vote in his favour.
Asked one what action his party will do Hichilema responded: “That is illegal (inauguration) it is against the constitution because we have not been heard. We are going to the High Court because as you may know in the so called ruling today, the president of the Constitutional Court objected to what the three judges did. She not alone, another judge Munalula also dismissed it that was mischievous.”
He added: “The point is the president of the Constitutional Court has ridiculed what they tried to do today and she was not alone.”
Asked on the futility of his decision since the Constitutional Court decisions were not appealable he said: “The right to be heard is part of the Bill of Rights and because of the different interpretation of this 14 days hearing, and not determination the High Court has the jurisdiction to interpret that our fundamental right to be heart has been violated. The petition was not heard, they decided without being heard. It is like a murder accused today is sentenced today without being charged. That is what has happened today.”
Hichilema said the Constitutional Court was in a confused state having made several conflicting rulings during the hearing.
“The court is in a confused state, they basically put us in a constitutional crisis. By the way two days ago, a full bench of judges of the Constitutional Court ruled that the petition will commence on Monday (Today) and will run up to Thursday,” he said.
“The full bench of five judges ruled and then today we go to court, three judges appear in court and indicate that they have changed their minds and they have a contrary ruling and they are the majority. They cannot be the majority because the full bench on Friday and ruled that the petition commences today. The petition has already commenced, we have not been heard, and we have been denied the right to be heard.”
He said that the court should have shown direction over the conflict on the 14 days threshold that finally undid his court challenge.




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