By NATION REPORTER
BOWMAN Lusambo says he is not surprised and not bitter that the High Court has decided to dismiss his petition over the Kabushi Constituency parliamentary by-election from which he was knocked out by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) after it rejected his nomination to participate in the election.
Mr Lusambo says it was expected that the High Court was going to rule in favour of the ruling party because of the events which happened prior to the date of the Kabushi By-election in which the UPND allegedly conspired with the ECZ to block him from participating in the election.
The former Lusaka Province Minister said the decision by the High Court to quash his petition was a laughable matter because the Constitutional Court in its ruling had made it clear that nullification of a seat was not the same as disqualification.
Mr Lusambo said it was for this reason that he and his legal team were going to challenge the High Court’s ruling by going back to the Concourt which was very categorical when it made its judgement on the matter.
“I have a team of very good lawyers who laid the facts before the courts and moreover, the Constitutional Court in its earlier judgement clearly stated that disqualification was not nullification. We are shocked but not surprised by the verdict which was given by Ndola High Court judge Ruth Chibabbuka,” Mr Lusambo said.
Mr Lusambo had petitioned the Kabushi Constituency by elections results which saw Bernard Kanengo elected as the new UPND Member of Parliament after he was barred from filing in his nomination.
He said that the High Court was wide of the mark to quash his petition because the Concourt had given guidance over the matter.
“This result is laughable and it is for this reason that we going back to the Concourt, which advised that despite I and my Kwacha Constituency counterpart Joseph Malanji’s seats being nullified, we were eligible to recontest our seats,” Mr Lusambo said.
He said that the ECZ had erred in the manner they handled the matter as they quoted Article 72 (4) to disqualify the duo and that it was for this reason they would challenge the ruling of the High Court. He said he was not bitter by the verdict as he was happy because his team had done its homework in line with the law.
