By Kwangu Manda,
Last weekend, Copperbelt Minister, Elisha Matambo visited Mufulira District to allegedly welcome new members of the UPND party.
Present during the occasion were two independent councillors: Jones Mwewa of Mulungushi ward and Enoch Kabaso of Kawama West ward.
Their participation in the event sparked mixed feelings amongst different stakeholders who felt “betrayed” and claimed that the two had joined the ruling party.
Others closely affiliated with the ruling party claimed that they merely endorsed the President for the coming 2026 General Elections.
This was followed by a letter submitted to Mufulira Municipal Council that stated that the alleged crossing of the two independent councillors to a political party should kick in a suspension of their allowances and a nullification of their seats.
The letter cited Article 72(2)(e) of the Constitution of Zambia. Other locals displeased and in support of the letter referred to the Local Government Act 1991, section 14(1)(e).
What must be understood is that the references made by those displeased with the councillors, were legally inapplicable to the alleged crossing of the councillors.
Here is why:Article 72: Vacation of Office as MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT or Dissolution of Party 2. The Office of MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT becomes vacant if the Member:
(e) Is expelled from the political party which sponsored the member for election to the National Assembly.
(g) Having being elected to the National Assembly, as an independent, joins a political party.
Local Government Act 199114.
1. The office of a councillor shall become vacant if:
(e) If the holder of an office:
(III) Being an independent, joins a political party
The problem can be seen in the above references as
a) Article 72 of the Constitution of Zambia applies to Members of Parliament and NOT councillors, and
b) The Local Government Act 1991 was repealed and replaced in 2019 by the Local Government Act 2019, making section 14 of the Local Government Act 1991 null and void as only section 10 of the 2019 Act addresses the vacancy of office of Mayor and Council Chairperson, and NOT councillors.
Vacation of Office of Councillors Under what conditions then, does a councillor vacate office? We have to look at Article 157 of the Constitution to be rightly guided.
Article 157: Vacation of Office of Councillors and Vacancies
2. The office of councillor becomes vacant if—
a. the councillor ceases to be a resident of the district
b. the councillor resigns by one month’s notice, in writing, to the mayor or council chairperson
c. the councillor becomes disqualified for election under article 153
d. the councillor acts contrary to the code of ethics provided for in article 155
e. the councillor has a mental or physical disability that makes the councillor incapable of performing the functions of councillor, or
f. the councillor dies.
We can see then, that in spite of one’s personal sentiment towards the controversy surrounding last week’s events, that there is no legal implication of the alleged move to nullify the two councillors’ seats.
The councillors, must, then be measured by their individual service delivery to their respective wards before their political affiliation is discussed — which should be left to the public to decide.
As far as the law provides, neither endorsement nor crossing has legal implications for the two men. Their respective performance, is left to their ward members.
