NDC now will come and put more volume, says Josephs Akafumba as the Kabwe High Court declared the decision to deregister the Chishimba Kambwili party illegal.
At the height of a conflict between the NDC and Mwenya Musenge, the Registrar of Societies Thandiwe Mhende deregistered the opposition party and Kambwili appealed the decision to the High Court at Kabwe.
On Thursday, Kabwe High Court judge Isaac Kamwendo condemned the State to costs and ordered restoration of the cancelled NDC certificate.
Briefing the press at Kambwili’s residence in Woodlands yesterday, Akafumba, the party’s vice-president, said Zambia was a multiparty state where opposition political parties exist as a matter of right as provided for under the Constitution.
He noted that under President Edgar Lungu’s PF administration, opposition political parties now should only be seen and not heard.
“This is not good for the country and it is getting worse by the day. The action that was taken by the Registrar of Societies was 101 per cent political because there was no reason whatsoever of deregistering a political party that she herself registered and had issued with a registration certificate,” Akafumba said. “We didn’t believe in what she did and as a law abiding party, we went to court to challenge her decision and fortunately the High Court in Kabwe delivered a landmark judgment putting it very clear that this registrar was off the line.”
Akafumba said judge Kamwendo declared what the Registrar of Societies did as null and void and restored the NDC’s certificate.
“What this means for the Zambian people is that NDC now will come and put more volume, we will take our role as provided in the Constitution by providing checks and balances,” he said.
Akafumba advised civil servants to abide by the rules and not go outside regulations.
He advised them not to be dictated to by politicians, who come and go.
“The civil service is there to serve any government that comes into power. But this particular chief Registrar of Societies allowed herself to play to the political tune. I am saying so because number one this same person deregistered the MMD of Nevers Mumba but the court blew her offside. She didn’t stop there; she went further, deregistered Harry’s [Kalaba] DP and the courts blew her offside again. She did not stop there; she again deregistered the NDC, the courts again have blown her offside,” Akafumba said. “This is not a coincidence. When it first happened, we said it’s happenstance to the MMD, the second one was Harry’s party and we said it could be a coincidence but when it hit the NDC, we knew that it was enemy action and PF were behind it, putting on a mask behind this civil servant. This should not be the case.”
Akafumba urged Zambians to guard their space, their democracy and not allow an outgoing party to mess up the democracy they have enjoyed for many years.
“You see, what I see in Edgar Lungu is typical of a dictator. A dictator first of all destroys all institutions of governance and the office of the Chief Registrar has not been spared. Assuming that may be I have gone outside the line, but why is it that all the three [parties], this registrar, maybe she is blind, doesn’t she read? It’s embarrassing,” he said.
He said the Kabwe High Court in agreeing with the NDC position condemned the State to costs.
“If this society was right, it (costs) should come from the pocket of the Registrar of Societies for misconduct in a public office,” he said.
Akafumba said politicians were being unfair to their subordinates who were weak.
“We understand that civil servants at this time with President Edgar Lungu in power are not safe,” he said. “The way out is to vote out these guys. People must not accept this, we must vote out these people. Just a few days ago, President Lungu, His Excellency, the chief executive of this country, the executive powers of this country are vested in him by the Constitution; he addresses the nation that ‘the ACC wants to remove me’. He is the one that appointed that lady there, that is his institution. Come on! And what do we see? Two days later the ACC goes to court and says ‘no, there was nothing against Chilufya; he was just living a normal life’,” he said. “Look, before you go to court, you say ‘from the evidence that I have gathered, I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you have a prima facie case to answer and I have made up my mind to arrest you’. I know that is what happened in the [ACC] office. So how can the same institution come in court and say there was nothing wrong? This is the interfering by politicians and it is worse and more pronounced under the PF government led by Edgar Chagwa Lungu.”
In his judgment, judge Kamwendo said the Registrar of Societies exceeded her powers in cancelling the certificate of registration of the NDC.
“I accordingly set aside the decision of the Chief Registrar to cancel the certificate of registration of the NDC and order that she proceeds to effect the changes of 20th May 2019 given to her by the NDC. I also find that the letter authored by the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs (Stephen Kampyongo) dated 20th September 2019, a response to the purported appeal by the NDC is invalid and void abnitio,” said judge Kambwendo and ruled that the NDC deregistration as illegal, unreasonable and procedurally improper.