🔆The Shibukeni Series 11 December 2024: “OMNIA CAUSA [The Disturbing Case of Institutional Non Compos Mentis and the Con Court]

I looked at the Bench.
For some arcane reason, it made me think of the Zambezi river and drowning.

Was ECL going to swim to the shore?
I shook my fine head.

It was written on wall, the waters were unfriendly.
They were precariously opani-infested.

As if in a classroom, so the deputy president of the court went on and on. The macabre show was on, the show of the damned.
I didn’t know that cheating could be so eloquent and long-winded. So legal.

Our ears were repeatedly assaulted with latin jargon. Per incuriam, res judicata, functus officio, amicus curiae, ad infinitum.

It sounded like a Catholic mass for serious sinners, the very bad, utter vermin of society seeking atonement, in the times before Zambia’s independence.

‘What on earth are they talking about?’ confused, a Bemba friend of mine by my side lamented.

I smiled. This is what happens when a big lie is being told, when a heinous injustice is being committed, I responded. The tongues get twisted.

You see, I went on, this is what happens when your paymaster gives you the verdict and then you are asked to provide a legal opinion afterwards.

‘Sounds like verdict laundering,’ he retorted. ‘ACC or DEC stuff.’

So you squirm, you become verbose, you twist and turn, you turn and twist, till you end up ensnared by the very web of deceit that you yourself weaves.

Exasperated, he said: ‘Awe kwena, imingalato ishi shalatucusha! Kwati court taikwete amano sure.’ He was referring to a common, recurring condition of non compos mentis amongst human beings.

It is indeed curious.
Very suspicious.

Vacating its earlier ruling, so Zambia’s Constitutional Court contends that from January 2015 to September 2016 was a full term for ECL.

So how then was ECL eligible for the presidential election in 2021 having again stood in 2016?

The Constitutional Court further states that ECL was indeed eligible for the 2021 presidential election.

So then how is it that this court was/is comfortable with ECL serving three terms, itself a serious breach of Zambia’s Republican Constitution?

What if ECL had won the 2021 election? What then?

One can clearly see that, in making sure that its end, that its verdict was justified, Zambia’s Constitutional Court went to bed with glaring and shameful inconsistencies and contradictions.

If ECL was eligible in 2021, as the court states, what now has changed between then and now?

If Zambia’s Judiciary made an error in 2021 as the court states, by allowing ECL to stand, why then has that ‘fraudulent election’ not been declared null and void?

‘Imwe, ba Banda, you are missing the point.’

I quietly stared at my Bemba friend, as he gladly wiped off a froth of Chibuku from his lips with the back of his hand.

Expectant, I silently stared at him.

He went on: ‘This is why iyi court baita ati Con Court. You go there you get conned. So apa mwalamona, ECL will be conned.’

I was speechless. I had never thought of that. This is interesting kanyanta manga stuff, my mind surmised. My lips broke into a smile.

The Bemba man: ‘But kuti bachita efyo balefwaya. Kuya kwena baleya. Twacula pafula.’

So that is how the verdict was reached.

The Con Court: ‘Our combined interpretation therefore of sections 2 and 7 of the Act and the repealed Article 35 of the Constitution is that the 1st Respondent’s term of office that ran from 25th January 2015 to 13th September 2016 constituted a term of office.

The 1st Respondent’s term which ran from 13th September 2016 to August 2021 constituted his second term.

The 1st Respondent, Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu has therefore been twice elected and has twice held office. Article 106(3) of the Constitution makes the 1st Respondent ineligible to participate in any future elections as a presidential candidate.’

With the song ‘It’s Over Over’ by Jimmy ominously playing in the background, that’s how Thabo Kawana, a civil servant in Zambia’s public service, gloated and rejoiced.
Schadenfreude.

It was a hatchet job alright.
The instruction: ECL must not be on the ballot. Period.

With that con, besides democracy, Zambia’s Judiciary went comatose.

And with such judgements over the years, no one has confidence in Zambia’s judicial system anymore, not even many of its own judges, advocates, magistrates and other legal practitioners.

This judgement is clearly flawed.
It is fraught with damning inconsistencies and contradictions.

Instead of eliminating doubt, it does the opposite, it creates doubt, festers mistrust in the courts and foments tension in the country.
This explains why Lusaka’s streets were littered with police HMVs. Gun-assisted justice, as the saying on the street goes.

Then strangely, ECL, a meritorious graduate of the University of Zambia, says I respect and accept the verdict.
Why he respects and accepts deception, a veritable act of governance corruption, no one knows. It boggles the mind.

You see, resistance in life is a resource.
When things go astray, it leads to required change and order.

Jesus led the way.
We should follow him.

We must rebel against injustice as He did, and not respect and accept it.
Someone whisper this to ECL.

Next time I see him I will tell him myself.
Bosano, nichani kansi? Kosani, I will say.

You see, dear reader, the default setting of all life in the Universe is harmony and balance.
Nature is self-correcting.

Deception has its limits. Deception destroys the deceiver. His ignoble end is intrinsic to his conduct. It is only a matter of time.

The end for the UPND is coming. That is not in doubt.
All reigns end.

Be filled with dread, UPND members.
As you make your bed so shall you lay in it.

Behave well now.
You will be treated well then.

The last shall be first.
Time and chance happen to all.

Gloating, some UPND members, as if non compos mentis, happy with the verdict, are now reminding citizens that law is law.
They conveniently forget that many times they themselves, in tandem with the courts, have breached Zambia’s Republican Constitution and destroyed the rule of law in Zambia.
And they continue to treat Zambia’s democracy with disdain.

‘Mwisakamana, ba Banda. Kosenifye. Mwikatane. Lesa mukulu. Nothing lasts forever. Nabena aba, bakaya.’

My eyes popped.
I didn’t know that wise Bembas existed.
But then we live and learn.

Freedom comes to those who seek it.
And the favour of God departs from those that pursue vengeance.

This then is the immutable law of The Source.
Granted, the law of man is manipulable. It is shit, hence the never ending amendments.

Yes, as if non compos mentis, oftentimes the courts do the insane, the unthinkable.
They convict the innocent and set free the guilty.

But as guardians of the galaxies, and immutably compos mentis, we shall remain, ever guiding, forever the blueprint.
For we are light.

Yes, omnia causa.
That’s latin, my Bemba friends. Meaning, everything happens for a reason. Take heed.

Change is coming.
These injustices constitute its prelude.

Aluta continua!
Indeed, the struggle must continue! Vitoria è certa!

Uno pro omnibus, omnes pro uno!

Dr Canisius BANDA
Development Activist

🔆The Shibukeni Series
11 December 2024
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