ECZ CHALLENGES NALOLO ASPIRANT’S APPEAL

By GRACE CHAILE LESOETSA THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has submitted that independent aspirant for Nalolo constituency George Imbuwa’s appeal against Lusaka High Court’s decision to dismiss the matter in which he petitioned the commission for rejecting his nomination papers lacks merit. Mr Imbuwa is seeking a declaration that he was duly nominated as candidate for the Nalolo parliamentary seat for the election scheduled for August 12, 2021. He wants in the alternative an order that he be allowed to submit the affidavit form out of time and that he be awarded costs for the action. ECZ rejected his nomination papers on grounds that they were incomplete. Justice Pixie Yangailo dismissed Mr Imbuwa’s petition on grounds that it was filed out of time and was not properly before court.  ECZ has argued that the appeal lacks merit and should be dismissed with costs. It added that the appeal was against the trial judge’s findings on a point of law and fact. “We submit that a perusal of the grounds of appeal and appellants’ heads of arguments clearly shows that the appellant has not disputed that the nomination date was 17th May 2021 and that the petition was filed on 26th May 2021. “Further, we submit that the decision of the trial judge was on firm ground as it was based on the fact that the appellant moved the lower court on the ninth day from the date of close of filing nominations,” it stated. ECZ said that Mr Imbuwa’s appeal is ill-fated as the grounds of appeal were highly misconceived and incompetent.