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LAZ advises convicted Muteteka to resign
LUSAKA, February, ZANIS — The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has urged convicted Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) member of parliament for Chisamba Constituency Moses Muteteka to resign from his parliamentary position.
LAZ Honorary Secretary Linda Kasonde said Mr. Muteteka’s continued stay in the National Assembly is an affront to justice and the republican constitution.
“LAZ, however takes the view that for as long as Mr. Muteteka remains a convict, the honorable thing for him to do is to resign his position as MP. He cannot perform his duties with dignity and his continuing to serve in the National Assembly would be a clear affront to justice and to the provisions of the constitution will be an affront to justice and the provisions of the Constitution.”
ZANIS reports that Ms Kasonde said this in a statement released in Lusaka today.
According to article 71(2) (e) of the Zambian Constitution, a member of the National Assembly shall vacate his seat in parliament where, among other causes, he is sentenced by a court in Zambia to death, or to imprisonment, by whatever name called, for a term exceeding six months.
The constitution further states in article 71(3) that where a convicted person appeals against the decision of the court, the requirement to vacate one’s seat as MP shall not have effect until the final determination of such appeal.
However, Ms Kasonde said that the constitutional provision which allows a convicted MP to continue as such pending his appeals only works well in a society where the court system is not inundated with many cases as is the case in Zambia.
She hoped that Hon. Muteteka will reconsider his position and put the interests of his constituency above his in order to ensure that the people of Chisamba constituency are not deprived of their constitutional right to parliamentary representation.
Hon. Muteteka was recently convicted of motor vehicle theft by the Lusaka magistrate court and sentenced to five years imprisonment and has since appealed to the High Court.
Last year, Hon. Stephen Masumba, who is Mufumbwe Member of Parliament was convicted by the Lusaka Magistrate court for obtaining pecuniary advantage and appealed to the High Court
Meanwhile, LAZ has advised the Voluntary Separates Association of Zambia (VSAZ) and members of the public that its Disciplinary and Legal Practitioners’ Committees are investigating complaints leveled against Lusaka Lawyer Nelly Mutti for unauthorized deductions from dues of members of VSAZ.
