RB tossed out

FORMER president Rupiah Banda has lost his bid to contest the Republican Presidency after the Supreme Court blocked his MMD candidature.
This means that MMD leader, Nevers Mumba who was suspended by the party to pave way for Mr Banda’s adoption, will file his nomination tomorrow and subsequently contest the elections on the MMD ticket.
A full bench of Supreme Court judges led by acting Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda yesterday in its more than an hour judgment, stopped MMD national secretary Muhabi Lungu and his agents from implementing the resolutions of the National Executive Committee (NEC)  meeting and Members of Parliament (MPs) meeting held on November 18, 2014.
Among the resolutions of the December 18, 2014 meeting was the suspension of Dr Mumba on alleged gross misconduct, and the adoption of Mr Banda as the MMD candidate in next year’s elections.

Supreme Court Judge Mumba Malila, who read out the unanimous judgment on behalf of the other judges, ordered the MMD through Mr Lungu who Dr Mumba had sued, to immediately restore Dr Mumba as the MMD president.
Mr Malila said that on the evidence before court, Dr Mumba had made out a strong case to warrant the Supreme Court  to order for a mandatory injunction in his favour restraining Mr Lungu from suspending him.
“All circumstances considered, we are of the view that on the evidence before us, the appellant has made out a strong case to warrant us to order a mandatory injunction in his favour restraining the defendant, by his agents, servants and whomsoever, to forthwith restore the appellant as the MMD President and not to further implement the resolutions of the National Executive Committee meeting” Mr Justice Malila said.
Mr Malila dismissed all the grounds advanced by Mr Lungu in his cross appeal where he was among other things challenging  the granting of a mandatory injunction to Dr Mumba and said the MMD leader’s appeal succeeded on all grounds.
He said that the Supreme Court was satisfied that it had sufficient power to deal with the matter in place of the High Court instead of referring it back to the high court.
A frenzy of jubilation by Dr Mumba’s supporters who had gathered waiting for the outcome outside the court room proceeded the judgment.
Dr Mumba later in an interview with journalists called for unity among the MMD members and declared that his team was ready to embark on massive campaigns after the Saturday filing of nominations.
He had appealed to the Supreme Court against Mr Justice Mchenga’s decision to discharge an interim injunction earlier granted to him on grounds that his parameters of what he wanted Mr Lungu to be restrained from doing, was not well defined.
But the Supreme Court held that if Mr Justice Mchenga had read all the documents filed by Dr Mumba before him, he would have come to a best conclusion that the parameters of what Dr Mumba wanted were well spelt.

Times of Zambia