By Cathy Maulidi:
As Parliament is expected to convene on Friday next week, there is a crisis as it is not known who will represent the Leader of Opposition in the august House’s business committee after the disputed leader Kondwani Nankhumwa has, through his lawyer Wapona Kita, written Parliament, challenging the appointment of others.
Kita told The Daily Times that they have written the Speaker of Parliament [Catherine Gotani Hara], notifying her office that Nankhumwa is still Leader of the Opposition according to an injunction that was obtained in 2022, stopping the appointment of other Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
The said injunction was obtained by 22 DPP members of Parliament (MPs), including Werani Chilenga, Mark Botomani and Nicholas Dausi, who challenged the party when it proposed another name for the position.
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The lawmakers claimed, among other things, that they were denied the right to vote for Leader of the Opposition as they were “deliberately not invited” to a meeting that was held in Mangochi, where party officials voted for an individual other than Nankhumwa.
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Kita, who also disclosed that they penned the office of the Speaker of Parliament on Monday, said the House’s leadership will be in contempt of court if it proceeds to recognise another individual, other than Nankhumwa, as Leader of the Opposition.
He said this is because the injunction was not lifted.
“That injunction, which was obtained by DPP MPs and Nankhumwa in 2022, stopping the party from replacing Nankhumwa, was never lifted and we have penned the Speaker to say that ‘the injunction is still in place; it has not been varied’. So, if they want anything different from that, then they should go to court and apply for variation [of the injunction].
“When Parliament convenes, recognising [someone else] as Leader of the Opposition will be contempt of court because the court’s position remains that Honourable Nankhumwa is Leader of Opposition,” Kita said.
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Asked if Nankhumwa plans to leave the Leader of Opposition office, which is located within the House, Kita responded: “No! No! He is not moving out.”
Parliament spokesperson Ian Mwenye confirmed being served with the letter from Nankhumwa’s lawyer.
“Yes, I can confirm that we have received some communication but I wouldn’t divulge more details rather than confirming. For now, all I can say is [that] we have received the communication and we, as Parliament, are looking into that communication,” Mwenye said.
Reacting to the development, DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba described what is happening in relation to the Leader of Opposition office as “kicks of a dying horse”.
“Nankhumwa was expelled from the party and, automatically, he ceased to benefit from any party benefits. He was the Leader of Opposition because he was a member of the DPP and what has happened is [that] we have expelled him from the party and he ceases to be Leader of Opposition. He was removed as Leader [of Opposition] the moment he was expelled.
“The injunction they are talking about has nothing to do with the present matter. These are just kicks of a dying horse and the horse is now dead; you will see,” Namalomba said.
