The presiding of inauguration by the Registrar of High Court
Lungu taking oath
MacDonald Chipenza an Electoral expert has writen the following over the inauguration of Edgar Lungu and Inonge Wina:
Assumption of Office of President-Elect
I could not manage to attend the inauguration ceremony at Heroes Stadium in Lusaka which took place today, the Sept 13, 2016 but vibes from there indicate that the ceremony was presided over by the Registrar of the High Court.
If these vibes are true, then the law has been negotiated and such a decision may invoke challenges from some quarters of society as it might in contrast with the provision of the constitution as cited below and past practices where the chief justice takes centre stage at such ceremonies.
Article 105. (1) of the Amended Constitution of Zambia states “the President-elect shall assume office after being sworn in by the Chief Justice or, in the absence of the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice.
(2) The President-elect shall be sworn into office on the Tuesday
following—
(a) the seventh day after the date of the declaration of the
presidential election results, if no petition has been filed
in accordance withArticle 103; or
(b) the seventh day after the date on which the Constitutional
Court declares the election to be valid.
This article also reminds us of the 14 days saga which some people argued included the weekends.
Now, when u read 105(2)(b) from the time the court decided to behave fun on 5th Sept, 2016, the president-elect who was not declared validly elected by the ConCourt as per constitution provision above and other provisions in Article 101 (6) is being sworn in on the 9th day from the date of the dismissal of the petition in total disregard of the constitution.
But if you remove the weekend, yes,7 days perfectly ends today the 13 Sept, 2016. But we have been told 7 days are 7 days inclusive of weekends, how then does this not apply on this occasion? Is this not the Animal Farm comedy?
I am very concerned with the way we are raping this amended constitution and this raping is done during daylight. It seems like its implementation is becoming so difficult and that is been displayed by the top political leadership.
We need to see the best way to move this country constitutionally, otherwise, am scared…God help us.