ConCourt dismisses Nkombo application
THE Constitutional Court has dismissed an application by Mazabuka UPND Member of Parliament Garry Nkombo and 51 other MPs seeking to join four ministers to a court action in which a concerned citizen Richard Mumba has sued opposition parliamentarians for boycotting the Presidential address to Parliament. In his ruling, Constitutional Court Judge Enock Mulembe said he did not see how the exclusion of the four would adversely affect the court’s ability to hear and determine the issues raised in the petition. The four ministers are Jean Kapata, Richard Musukwa, Bowman Lusambo and Freedom Sikazwe and one MP. In dismissing the petition, Judge Mulembe ruled that each party would bear their own costs. Judge Mulembe said due to what he considered to be cardinal constitutional ramifications the issues the petition raised, he had taken the liberty to give long and careful reflection over the application and the points raised by the parties in favour of their respective positions. The petitioner Richard Mumba submitted that the application by Mr Nkombo and 51 others to add the four ministers and one MP was just another way to delay the matter further and they would not suffer any prejudice if the court denied and dismissed the application. Mr Mumba had also submitted that the application be dismissed with costs for lack of merit. The number of respondents now stands at 44 from 51 after the two parties entered into a consent judgement to strike out nine UPND MPs before Judge Mulembe on August 16, 2018.
The application by Mr Nkombo and 51 others to add the four ministers and one MP was just another way to delay the matter further and they would not suffer any prejudice if the court denied and dismissed the application.