Sangwa sues HH, Speaker Mutti

By NATION REPORTER

CONSTITUTIONAL lawyer, State Counsel John Sangwa has sued President Hakainde Hichilema and Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti for their continued failure to enact the Political Parties Bill into law that would have given effect to the establishment, regulation and financing of political parties in Zambia among other mandates.

Mr Sangwa has sued President Hichilema and Speaker Mutti as Head of the Executive and as Presiding Officer of the Legislature, the organ mandated to enact legislation respectively. He has sued the Attorney General as the principal legal adviser to the Government, while the Registrar of Societies has been sued as the statutory officer currently exercising regulatory control over political parties.

Mr Sangwa has submitted in his petition to the Constitutional Court that Article 60(4) of the Constitution was deliberately framed in mandatory terms to ensure that political parties, the vehicles through which citizens exercised their right to participate in governance, operated transparently, democratically, and on a level playing field.

“Continued neglect of this provision has weakened accountability, entrenched inequality, and created conditions inimical to democratic renewal. This failure is not a mere technicality. It strikes at the heart of Zambia’s constitutional democracy,” Mr Sangwa said in his submission.

“Unless remedied, these deficiencies will undermine the credibility of the 2026 General Election, perpetuate inequality among parties, and weaken the legitimacy of Zambia’s multiparty democracy. Citizens’ right to free and fair elections under Article 45 will again be compromised, eroding public trust in electoral outcomes and destabilising Zambia’s constitutional order,” he has submitted.

He has submitted that the President and Parliament had failed to enact legislation to compel political parties to submit audited annual financial statements and the regulation of sources of funds and create a level playing field in elections.

Suing through the Legal Resources Foundation Limited, Mr Sangwa has submitted that there had been no effort to formulate or enact legislation for the regulation of contributions to political parties and candidates or campaign expenditure, nearly a decade after the Constitution was amended in 2016, which would have given effect to Article 60(4) of the Constitution.

“The Petitioner contends that this persistent omission by the President and the Speaker of the National Assembly to enact legislation to the formation, regulation and financing of political parties constitutes a grave and continuing violation of the Constitution,” Mr Sangwa submitted in his affidavit.

“By leaving political parties regulated under the colonial-era Societies Act, Cap. 119, the State has undermined multiparty democracy, compromised transparency in political financing, denied citizens’ equal political participation, and exposed parties to executive interference,” he said.

He stated that with the 2026 General Election less than one year away, the urgency of his Petition could not be overstated, warning that unless corrective measures are directed by the Constitutional Court, the next election would again be conducted under unconstitutional conditions, with the real potential of risking the illegitimacy of outcomes and destabilisation of the constitutional order.

“The Petitioner therefore respectfully invites this Honourable Court, as the ultimate guardian of the Constitution, to declare the omission unconstitutional, to compel the President and Parliament to fulfil their duties under Article 60(4) within a definite timeframe, and to assume supervisory jurisdiction until full compliance is secured. In the alternative, and pending the enactment of the required legislation, the Petitioner prays for interim remedies fashioned by this Court to stand in lieu of the Act, so that the constitutional guarantees of free and fair elections, transparency, and multiparty democracy are preserved for the 2026 General Election,” Mr Sangwa submitted.

Mr Sangwa explained that elections should be free from violence, intimidation and corruption, conducted by secret ballot, based on universal suffrage, and “conducted in a free, fair, transparent and credible manner.

“Free and fair elections presuppose a transparent and accountable system of political party regulation. Political parties are the vehicles through which citizens exercise their right to participate in governance. Without a framework for financial transparency, equitable funding, and in