Ministers should obey court order over refund - Mvunga

IT is incumbent upon all ministers who obtained allowances after the dissolution of parliament to pay back Mr Mvunga the money, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Christopher Mvunga, has said.

Mr Mvunga, who is among the affected ministers warned that failure to comply with a court ruling which mandated them to pay back the money had consequences.

He told Journalists in Lusaka yesterday that it was an obligation upon individuals to ensure that the court ruling was adhered to.

“It is a court judgement, we need to comply with it. It is incumbent upon everyone to comply with the court ruling, if you do not comply with a court ruling, there are consequences to it. “It is both an obligation on individuals to ensure that court ruling is obeyed, but I will leave it to the minister of justice. They will advise better whether they are appealing or take the judgement as it is,” Mr Mvunga said.

He however said ministers were willing to pay back salaries and allowances they obtained.

Recently, Patriotic Front secretary general Davies Mwila, on behalf of 63 others, asked the court to set aside part of its judgment that ordered the ministers to pay back salaries and allowances they obtained during the dissolution of Parliament.

This was after UPND, through its secretary general, Steven Katuka, petitioned the Constitutional Court to order Ngosa Simbyakula and 63 others to pay back all the money they got after Parliament was dissolved.