Kitwe High Court Throws Out Kalulushi Constituency Election Petition

By Chansa Mayani The Kitwe High Court has dismissed the Kalulushi Constituency election petition with costs. This is in a case in which losing candidate for National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity -NRPUP- BERNARD BESA challenged the election of KAMPAMBA MULENGA of UPND as dully elected member of parliament . In this matter ,Mr BESA had dragged Ms Mulenga to court as first respondent and Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) as second respondent and called for the nullification of elections. He alleged that the elections were not free and fair. Making his ruling, Kabwe High Court In Charge MATHEWS ZULU sitting in Kitwe dismissed the petition due to the petitioner’s repeatedly and unexplained failure to comply with clear orders of the court . Judge ZULU said he was convinced that the respondents will be significantly prejudiced in their preparation for these proceedings if the petitioners continued disregarding the courts orders. Ms. MULENGA applied to the court to dismiss the petition following the petitioners application for leave to file an amended petition . She was declared the winner of the polls after polling 12,539 votes against her closest rival, BESA of the NRPUP who polled 12,370