Zambia postpones opposition-backed impeachment debate

Zambia’s parliament delayed a debate on Wednesday on a motion seeking to impeach President Edgar Lungu over accusations of breaching the constitution.

Zambia’s main opposition party, the United Party for National Development (UPND), filed a motion last week. The notice set Wednesday as the date for the parliamentarians’ debate and vote on the motion.

The motion has rekindled tension in Africa’s secondlargest copper producer and threatens to derail Commonwealth-brokered talks between the government and opposition after disputed 2016 elections.

“In view of the gravity of the motion, the same is being studied and we shall revert to you in due course,” a letter read that was sent on Monday from the clerk of the National Assembly to Garry Nkombo, UPND parliamentary chief whip, who filed the motion.

UPND spokesman Charles Kakoma said the motion would not be debated until parliament’s next session begins in June. Signed by a third of the 166member house, the motion needs the backing of two-thirds to succeed.

The opposition argues Lungu violated the constitution in 2016 when it challenged his election victory in court, alleging electoral fraud, a claim the government denied.

The opposition believes that under the constitution, the president should, when faced with a legal challenge of this kind, hand over power to the speaker of the National Assembly until the court makes a decision.

The UPND’s case against Lungu was dismissed on a technicality after its lawyers failed to provide evidence within the required time limit.

Chishimba Kambwili, a MP of Lungu’s ruling Patriotic Front, who seconded Nkombo’s motion, was arrested by Zambia’s Anti-Corruption Commission on suspicion of fraud last Thursday.

Kambwili, a former cabinet minister who has repeatedly accused government officials of corruption, pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday.