The Lusaka High Court dismissed an application by Kabwata Member of Parliament Mr Danny Yenga to have the petition against his election thrown out. The court ruled that the challenge by United Party for National Development (UPND) candidate Mr Andrew Tayengwa was filed within the 14 days the law allows.

High Court Judge Mrs Justice Mary Mulanda said the court had jurisdiction to hear the matter, clearing the way for a full trial. Witnesses supporting the petition began testifying immediately after the ruling.

Mr Yenga won the Kabwata seat on the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) ticket at the August general election with 31,565 votes. Mr Tayengwa, the former MP, polled 21,114. He is seeking nullification of the result on grounds of electoral malpractice, and an order for the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to hold a fresh election within 90 days of judgment.

The application turned on a single date. Mr Yenga contended that he was declared duly elected on 15 August, which would mean Mr Tayengwa’s petition, filed on 31 August, came 16 days later and outside the deadline set by Section 100(3) of the Electoral Process Act.

Mr Tayengwa’s lawyers maintained that the 15 August date in his submissions was a typographical error, and that the results were in fact declared on 17 August. The ECZ, in its affidavit in opposition, confirmed the later date.

Judge Mulanda accepted that position. “There being no dispute that the Kabwata results were announced on 17th August, I hold this to be the actual date,” she said. “Having determined so, I am satisfied that the petition was filed according to the stipulated time and that I have jurisdiction to hear the matter.”

She concluded: “Thus, the application fails. The petition shall proceed.”

The first witness, Kamwala South businessman Mr Tiyeze Zimba, told the court he was a UPND election monitor during the August polls. He said that while monitoring voting at Chilenje Community Hall, he saw groups of about five or six people, with one person allegedly handing money to the others.

Moving closer, Mr Zimba said, he saw people receiving money before flashing the NRPUP symbol and chanting “Aleya, Aleya”. Those who received the money, he alleged, then joined the queue to vote. He said he reported the matter to police officers managing the queues, who broke up the groups.

Under cross-examination by Mr Yenga’s lawyer, Mr Joseph Chirwa, the witness conceded several gaps in his evidence. Mr Zimba admitted he had not produced any document proving the ECZ had accredited him as a monitor, nor any showing that he lived in Kabwata. He also could not confirm whether the symbol he saw was the registered NRPUP symbol.

He further agreed that he had not told the court Mr Yenga was among the people allegedly drinking beer or displaying party symbols at a shop near Arthur Wina Primary School.

A second witness, Mr Philip Simbayi of New Kamwala, told the court he was an accredited monitor under Community Awareness in Substance Abuse. He alleged that between 13:00 and 14:00 hours on polling day, he saw NRPUP Kamwala ward chairperson Ms Elizabeth Nayame distributing money to a group of people at the Kamwala Secondary School polling station.

The people who received the money, Mr Simbayi said, later left and went to vote. When he asked what was happening, he was told it was none of his business and that he should leave. He said he reported the incident to the police, while the group chanted “Aleya, Aleya” and displayed party symbols.

The hearing continues.

On the Copperbelt, a separate petition is under way over the Ndola Central seat won by Mr Emmanuel Mulenga, who polled 11,659 votes against 10,840 for the UPND’s Mr Frank Tayali.

Testifying in that case, Ms Precious Mumba, a Resolute Party polling agent at Zambia ICT College, told the court that ECZ officials instructed agents to capture the results on their mobile phones after copies of the forms ran out. A polling agent told the court that some UPND agents did not sign the Gen 20 results forms because there were not enough copies.

Another polling agent, Ms Cholla Katilungu, told the court she did not witness anyone complaining that votes had been cast on their behalf. She also said she did not see Mr Mulenga distributing party regalia on polling day.

Both trials will continue before the High Court, with the Kabwata hearing set to call further witnesses for the petitioner.

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