By OLIVER SAMBOKO
CONTROVERSIAL Lumezi Independent Member of Parliament Munir Zulu will remain in his parliamentary seat after the Constitutional Court yesterday declared him duly elected in the parliamentary election in the 2021 general elections.
The ConCourt has adjudged that it did not find any evidence to warrant overturning the election of Mr Zulu because Ms Chisulo Zelipa, an independent candidate who challenged the election failed to prove that the now suspended Lumezi lawmaker had no Grade 12 certificate.
The court ruled that there was no merit in the allegations that Mr Zulu participated in malpractices and bribery in Lumezi Constituency by merely promising that he was going to make donations to the people in the area.
The ConCourt also found that even if the evidential burden was to shift to Mr Zulu, the court was satisfied that the Lumezi Member of Parliament clearly proved he had a Grade 12 certificate and that was why the ECZ accepted his nomination.
The court also found that Mr Zulu demonstrated that he was born in 1987 and completed his education at LICEF contrary to some purported and unverified evidence obtained by Ms Chisulo from social media that the Grade 12 certificate issued in 1988 belonged to Mr Zulu.
The Constitutional Court also said that challenging nomination of candidates must be done within the time provided by the constitution.
Ms Chisulo had petitioned that Mr Zulu won the elections allegedly based on misconduct, bribery, violence and without a requisite Grade 12 certificate.
Ms Chisulo petitioned Mr Zulu on grounds being that of bribery in which she alleged that he made donations before the elections to the electorates which influenced the election outcome and that he did not have a proper and genuine Grade 12 certificate.
And addressing the media after he was declared duly elected, Mr Zulu said he would now focus on serving his constituency.
He said during the time the matter was in courts, he wasted time and resources at the expense of delivering development to the people.
Mr Zulu said he was aware that there were some people who did not want him in Parliament and that he was expecting difficult times ahead but that he was equal to the task.
