RULING BY THE HON SECOND DEPUTY SPEAKER ON A POINT OF ORDER RAISED ON FRIDAY, 28TH JUNE, 2024, BY HON C MWEETWA, MP, MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA, AGAINST NINE (9) PATRIOTIC FRONT (PF) PARTY MEMBERS FOR THEIR CONTINUED STAY IN THE HOUSE DESPITE BEING EXPELLED FROM THE PF

 

Hon Members, the House will recall that on Friday, 28th June, 2024, when the House was considering the Ministerial Statement by Hon C Mulenga, MP, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry on the USD 72 Billion proposed investment in Zambia by Viet-Zam Diversified Cooperation Limited, and Mr F R Kapyanga, Member of Parliament for Mpika Central Constituency, was on the Floor, Hon C Mweetwa, MP, Minister of Information and Media raised a Point of Order. The Point of Order was premised on Article 72 (2) (e) as read with Article 72 (5) of the Constitution, Chapter 1 of the Laws of Zambia, which provides for the vacation of Office as a Member of Parliament after expulsion from the political party that sponsored the Member for election to the National Assembly.

 

Hon Members, in raising the Point of Order, Hon C Mweetwa, MP, explained that on 6th December, 2023, the National Assembly received communication from Mr Morgan Ng’ona, the PF Secretary-General informing the National Assembly of the expulsion of nine (9) Patriotic Front party Members, namely, Mr R K Chitotela, MP, Mr N Chilangwa, MP, Mr M Mpankata, Mr C Kang’ombe, MP, Mr R Mutale, MP, Mr B M Mundubile, MP, Mr S Kampyongo, MP, Mr M Fube, MP and Mr M Kafwaya, Members of Parliament for Pambashe, Kawambwa, Lupososhi, Kanfinsa, Chitambo, Mporokoso, Shiwang’andu, Chilubi and Lunte Constituencies, respectively. He stated that following their expulsion from the PF, the nine (9) Members took legal action against Mr Miles B Sampa, Member of Parliament for Matero Constituency, Mr Morgan Ng’ona the PF Secretary-General, and the Attorney-General.

 Hon C Mweetwa, MP, further contended that since the communication of the expulsion on 6th December, 2023, there has been no subsisting court process challenging the legality of the expulsion of the nine (9) PF Members, an injunction, or a stay restraining the execution of the decision by the PF to expel them. 

 

He, therefore, enquired whether the nine (9) PF Members were in order to remain in the House and partake in its business given the provisions of the Constitution and in light of their expulsion from the PF. 

 

In my immediate response to the Point of Order, I reserved my ruling.  I have since studied the matter and will now render my ruling.

 

Hon Members, the Point of Order by Hon C Mweetwa, MP, raises the issue of vacation of office as a Member of Parliament after expulsion from the political party that sponsored the Member for election to the National Assembly. The authorities on this matter are set out below.

 

Article 72 (2) (e), (5),  (7) and (8) of the Constitution states as follows:

“(2) The office of Member of Parliament becomes vacant if the member—

(e) is expelled from the political party which sponsored the member for election to the National Assembly;

 

(5) Where a Member of Parliament is expelled as provided in clause (2) (e), the member shall not lose the seat until the expulsion is confirmed by a court, except that where the member does not challenge the expulsion in court and the period prescribed for challenge lapses, the member shall vacate the seat in the National Assembly.

 

(7) Where a court determines that an expulsion of a member, as provided in clause (2) (e), was justified, the member shall vacate the seat in the National Assembly.

 

 (8) Where a vacancy occurs in the National Assembly, the Speaker shall, within seven days of the occurrence of the vacancy, inform the Electoral Commission of the vacancy, in writing, and a by-election shall be held in accordance with Article 57”

 

Hon Members, Article 72 (2) (e) of the Constitution above is instructive on the procedure to be followed when a Member of Parliament’s seat becomes vacant. It states that the office of the Member of Parliament becomes vacant if the member is expelled from the political party which sponsored the Member for election to the National Assembly. However, vacation of office as a Member due to expulsion is subject to Article 72 (5) of the Constitution. Therefore, a Member of Parliament expelled from the political party which sponsored the Member to the National Assembly shall not vacate that seat in the National Assembly until the expulsion is confirmed by a court. However, where the Member does not challenge the expulsion within the prescribed period, such Member vacates the seat.  

Hon Members, it is only after the confirmation of the expulsion by the court or the elapsing of the period within which to challenge the expulsion that my Office is mandated, under Article 72 (8) of the Constitution, within seven (7) days, to proceed to inform the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) of the occurrence of the vacancy, and a by-election shall be held in accordance with Article 57 of the Constitution.

 

Hon Members, in the case in casu, I wish to confirm that my Office received correspondence from Mr Morgan Ng’ona, the Secretary-General of the PF on 6th December, 2023, to the effect that nine (9) PF Members had been expelled from the Party. Consequently, on 8th December, 2023, the nine (9) Members challenged their expulsion by way of a petition in the case of Ronald Chitotela and eight (8) others v Miles Bwalya Sampa, Morgan Ng’ona, and the Attorney-General: 2023/CCZ/ 0028. They, amongst others, sought the following remedies from the court:

 

(I) a declaration that the purported Extra-Ordinary Convention held on 24th October, 2023, was illegal, and therefore, null and void ab initio as it was in contravention of Article 60 (2) of the Constitution, Cap 1 of the Laws of Zambia;

(II) a declaration that the purported election of Mr Miles Sampa was also illegal, and therefore, null and void ab initio;

(III) a declaration that the purported appointment of Mr Morgan Ng’ona as the PF Secretary-General was illegal and therefore, null and void ab initio, as the appointing authority did not have the requisite authority to appoint anyone;

(IV) a declaration that Mr Morgan Ng’ona, the purported PF Secretary-General has no requisite authority to expel the petitioners or any member from the Party; 

(V) a declaration that the actions of the Speaker to act on the letters sent to her by Mr Morgan Ng’ona, purporting to be the PF Secretary-General was illegal and therefore, null and void ab initio; and

(VI) an interim order allowing the Party to operate freely, and for Mr Miles B Sampa and Morgan Ng’ona to be estopped from carrying themselves out as PF President and Secretary-General, respectively.

 

Hon Members, in a ruling dated 27th June, 2024, the Constitutional Court dismissed the petition on account of lack of jurisdiction as it did not disclose any constitutional issue but required it to interpret violation of a political party constitution. In this regard, the Court stated that the rest of the issues raised in the petition had been rendered otiose. The dismissal of the petition meant that there was no court process before the Constitutional Court challenging the legality or otherwise of the expulsion of the nine (9) PF Members.

 

Hon Members, I also wish to inform this House that following this ruling, on 27th June, 2024, my Office received correspondence from Mr Miles B Sampa, MP, in his capacity as President of the PF reversing the expulsion of seven (7) out of the nine (9) PF Members.  He indicated that the reversal of expulsion was in respect of Mr R K Chitotela, MP, Mr Christopher Kang’ombe, MP, Mr R Mutale, MP, Mr B M Mundubile, MP, Mr S Kampyongo, MP,Mr  M Fube,MP, and Mr   M Kafwaya, MP. He further stated that the amnesty did not extend to Mr N Chilanga, MP, and Mr M Mpankata, MP, thus, the two Members remain expelled from the PF.  

 

Hon Members, as a matter of practice, and based on the political parties’ constitutional and administrative arrangements, all correspondence from political parties to the National Assembly is supposed to be through their Secretary’s General. Therefore, since the correspondence was by the President of the Patriotic Front and not the Secretary-General, Mr Morgan Ng’ona, the National Assembly cannot act on the communication from Mr M B Sampa, MP, the Party’s President. It follows, therefore, that all the Members of the PF that were expelled remain expelled. 

 

In view of the fact that the Members of Parliament that were expelled had their petition dismissed by the Constitutional Court, the Members were out of order to continue sitting in the House and take part in Parliamentary Business. Further, since there is currently no challenge of the expulsion properly before court, and the expulsion having been effected in December, 2023, I consider that a vacancy has occurred in the Pambashe, Kawambwa, Lupososhi, Kanfinsa, Chitambo, Mporokoso, Shiwang’andu, Chilubi and Lunte Constituencies and I invoke powers vested in me in Article 72 (8) of the Constitution to write to the Electoral Commission informing it of the vacancy in the said constituencies effective Thursday, 27th June, 2024. 

 

In view of the above, could Mr R K Chitotela, MP, Mr N Chilangwa, MP, Mr M Mpankata, Mr C Kang’ombe, MP, Mr R Mutale, MP, Mr B M Mundubile, MP, Mr S Kampyongo, MP, Mr M Fube, MP and Mr M Kafwaya, MP, leave the House. 

I THANK YOU.