CONTEMPT proceedings should immediately be instituted against former MMD president Nevers Mumba for his continuous comments on the matters before the Constitutional Court on whether President Edgar Lungu should hand over executive powers to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Patriotic Front (PF) deputy spokesperson Frank Bwalya has charged.
And Mr. Bwalya has appealed to all PF members across the country to exercise patience as the Constitutional Court deals with the petition on the election of President Lungu by the United Party for National Development (UPND).
Commenting on Dr. Mumba’s assertions that some PF members were misleading President Lungu over him being in charge of the country’s affairs even after the UPND petitioned the outcome of the just-ended election, Mr. Bwalya said Dr. Mumba has continued to commit contempt of court through his running commentaries over the matter and should immediately be cited.
He said it was a fact that one of the lawyers, Celestine Mukandila, had petitioned the Constitutional Court to determine the legality of President Lungu remaining in office even after the petition and that the issue was in public domain but Dr. Mumba had decided to continue commenting on the issue with reckless disregard of the law.
He said it was wrong for Dr. Mumba to continue talking about matter which were in court and that the only way to silence him was for Mr. Mukandila to cite him for contempt as his continued remarks in the press put the court in an awkward position and may compromise the outcome of the matter.
“Our appeal is that Mr. Mukandila should immediately cite Dr. Mumba for contempt because he has been making comments on this matter even when he knows that it is in court. It is public knowledge that the Constitutional Court has been petitioned to give guidance on whether President Lungu should remain in office or hand over executive powers to the Speaker of the National Assembly and so, he has no defence over this matter even if he is to prove ignorance because that still is no defence,” Mr. Bwalya said.
And Mr. Bwalya has appealed to all PF members across the country to exercise patience as the Constitutional Court deals with the petition on the election of President Lungu by the UPND, saying there was no need to panic over the matter as their leaders were equal to the task to ensure that President Lungu was not robbed of his well-deserved victory.
He said there was no need for party members to engage in any activities that compromised the law but instead needed to allow the due process of the law to take its course as the courts were competent enough to handle the matter at hand professionally.
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