Nakacinda condemns UPND for  taking Judge Chitabo to JCA

Mon, 26 Dec 2016 10:27:52 +0000

By GWENDOLYN MCHENGA

 UPND’s decision to report High Court Judge Mwila Chitabo to the Judicial Complaint Authority (JCA) for gross misconduct is misconceived and should not be entertained, says MMD national secretary Raphael Nakacinda.

Mr Nakacinda said UPND president Hakainde Hichilema and his vice president for administration Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) were nothing but crybabies.

He claimed the two behaved in unconventional manner and when their applications were dismissed by the courts they began crying around and making more applications thereby wasting court’s time.

“The issue is that the two are trying to be provocative and when they are punished they cry foul play’’, said Mr Nakacinda has said.

Mr Nakacinda wondered what wrong did Judge Chitabo commit for him to be reported to the JCA for gross misconduct when he was just trying to demand sanity in the judiciary.

Judge Chitabo adjourned the hearing of the petition following the unruly behaviour exhibited by the UPND party cadres when court was in progress.

He said that Mr Hichilema and Mr Mwamba should note that anybody who went before the court was supposed to ask a question of law and not to start politics.

Last week, UPND president Hichilema and his vice Mr Mwamba reported Judge Mwila Chitabo to JCA for alleged gross judicial misconduct.

This followed the decision by the Judge to delay the hearing of a matter in which the two are seeking an application to be heard in the presidential election petition.

Judge Chitabo postponed the court hearings indefinitely after a fracas at the High Court involving UPND cadres and the Police which saw some vehicles belonging to court officials damaged.

He had earlier warned the UPND not to bring cadres to the court hearing, but the advice was ignored, resulting in the mayhem in which more than 45 cadres were arrested and are now appearing in court.

In a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Judicial Complaints Authority and copied to the Chief Justice and the Attorney General, Mr Hichilema and Mr Mwamba said they had now formally laid a complaint against Judge Chitabo in line with Article 144 of the Constitution on the premise that he had engaged himself in gross judicial misconduct.