{UAH} S CHIEF JUSTICE REFUSES TO SWEAR IN “PRESIDENT-ELECT” EDGAR LUNGU

Both Zambian Chief Justice Irene Chirwa Mambilima and deputy chief Justice Marvin Sitwala Mwanamwambwa have refused to swear in  "president-elect" Edgar Lungu until the petition in the Constitutional Court is concluded.

In desperation, State House has now embarked on a project to try and bribe judges of the Constitutional Court. State House and judicial sources have told the Watchdog that Lungu is determined to be sworn in despite the petition that has been lodged to question his purported election but now he has no one to swear him in.

According to the constitution of Zambia, a president can only be sworn in by the Chief Justice or in the absence or incapacity of the chief justice, by the deputy chief justice. The government has been preparing to swear in Lungu on Tuesday and PF legal advisor Tuntwa Ngulube issued an official statement that with or without the petition, Lungu would be sworn in on Tuesday. To prove that Lungu is determined to be sworn in and remain in office illegally, he has refused to transfer power to the Speaker as required by the law.

But sources told Africa Cradle that both justice Mambilima and Mwanamwamba have refused to be part of the illegal convocation, saying there is no way they could undermine a case that is going on in the Constitutional Court. With that information, the PF regime has abandoned the preparation of the inauguration and we hear Lungu has since phoned his colleagues Mugabe and Museveni to hold on.

But PF is PF. After being snubbed by the two most senior judges in the country, the PF has now turned to what they know best: bribery. So far, the the ministry of Finance has been ordered to give the Constitutional Court Judges loans so that they can rule in favor of Lungu. The judges themselves have not been approached but a government official called Theo is in the process of raising cheques to give to the judges who did not even apply for the loans. Theo stays in Libala stage 2, at 7 Mulima Street. We shall withhold his mobile numbers for now suffice to say they end in 615, 646, 980 and 655.

Africa Cradle believes that the judges on the Constitutional Court bench will not entertain the PF maneuvers as they are men and women of integrity except for Mulenga Mungeni, the deputy president of the Constitutional Court. Mungeni, a former classmate of Lungu is a disgrace to the judiciary and her judgments so far have been questionable. She is the one who legalized Lungu's election by show of pangas at Mulungushi. When Miles Sampa challenged Lungu's election at the Kabwe convention, Mungeni signed a consent order without the consent of Miles Sampa.

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