Speaker’s declaration of Munir’s seat vacant illegal – lawyer

By Chinoyi Chipulu

Lusaka lawyer Jonas Zimba says Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti’s decision to declare imprisoned Munir Zulu’s Lumezi parliamentary seat vacant is illegal.

And Lundazi member of parliament, Brenda Nyirenda, says Zambia has a dictator in State House who wants to reduce the number of opposition and independent members of parliament so he can turn the country into a one-party state.

Speaker Mutti has formally notified the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) through a letter dated April 8, 2025, of her decision to declare the Lumezi parliamentary seat vacant following Munir’s conviction and subsequent imprisonment for 12 months with hard labour for criminal defamation of finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane and infrastructure and housing minister Charles Milupi.

According to the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, ECZ chief electoral officer, Brown Kasaro, has confirmed receiving the Speaker’s correspondence and stated that the Commission was now activating its internal procedures in line with electoral regulations.

He also indicated that stakeholders would be informed of the next steps in due course and as soon as consultations are concluded.

But in an interview yesterday, Jonas Zimba said that the law did not permit anyone to declare a seat vacant at this stage because the appeal process had to go on. Zimba, who is representing Munir, said some people were committing illegalities by abusing their power.

“You can’t declare a seat vacant a day or two after a conviction. They are doing illegal things because they have power but what does it say about them?” Zimba asked.

He said according to the Constitution, when a person was convicted, like in the case of Munir, there was an appeal procedure to follow, meaning that that process was not complete and he could be released on bail pending appeal.

But Zimba regretted that some officials in key governance positions were determined to mutilate the law and do all sorts of things they deemed fit.

“We know they have the power but is it worth doing?” he asked.

Asked if his client would appeal against his conviction, Zimba said Munir would give instructions and they would pick it up from there.

And Nyirenda said these were plans by the ruling UPND to reduce on the number of people with divergent views.

“They want to reduce opposition and independents in order to have a one-party state. We have a dictator in State House. What he wants is to see people saying yes to him. You were saying former president Edgar Lungu was a bad man but here you are now,” she said.

Nyirenda said there was a lot of vindictiveness in the UPND government.

She said Munir had a Constitutional right to appeal although the people in power were determined to proceed with the by-election even if he appealed against his conviction.

Nyirenda said Zambia had lost FDD leader Edith Nawakwi just because President Hakainde Hichilema did not listen to her plea.

“We have lost Nawakwi because we have a person who does not understand in State House, and later on they want to declare national mourning,” she said. “So hypocritical that people can behave in such a way.”

Nyirenda said although the UPND had silenced Nawakwi, former Roan member of parliament Chishimba Kambwili and former Kabushi lawmaker Bowman Lusambo, among others, they would not silence the Zambian voters.

“They put that woman in the cells when she was ill, when she was telling them that she needed to go to UTH for treatment. The police were surrounding UTH. Is that not silencing you?” Nyirenda asked.

She said it was sad that the Lumezi voice in Munir had been silenced but the Tonse Alliance would emerge victorious in the by-election in honor of Munir.

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