Citizens First sues Registrar of Societies

By GRACE CHAILE
THE Citizens First Party has sued the Registrar of Societies and the Attorney General, challenging the refusal to effect amendments to its constitution.

The party through its General Secretary, Mr Wisdom Mulizwa, has sought judicial review seeking the Lusaka High Court’s order quashing the decision and or refusal by the Registrar of Societies to accept or effect the amendments to the constitution of the Citizens’ First Party as amended by the party’s general conference held on November 19, 2022.
It is alleged that the refusal to accept the revised constitution was based on the purported criminal investigations by the Zambia Police Service and other investigative agencies without according to the party the right to be heard.
In an affidavit verifying facts in support of ex parte summons for leave to apply for judicial review, Mr Mulizwa stated
The party held a conference in Ndola on November 19, 2022, at Park Lodge, where the proposed amendments were debated and approved.
He said on January 30, 2023, he submitted a copy of the amended constitution to the Registrar of Societies.
“That on June 14, 2023, I received a letter from the first respondent refusing to accept the submitted amendments and demanding that the applicant proves that meeting did actually take place as investigations by the Zambia Police Service had proven to the contrary,”
“That on June 21, 2023, the first respondent to the letter stating that the investigations by the police have revealed that the Citizens’First Party had actually committed a criminal offense,” he submitted.
Mr Mulizwa said the police had at no time informed him or the party of the alleged criminal investigations.
He, therefore, stated that it was unfair and unjust for the Registrar of Societies to base her refusal to accept the party’s amendments on the alleged investigations which were unknown to him as a suspect in the matter.