CAROLINE KALOMBE, Lusaka
THE Lusaka High Court has granted Patriotic Front presidential candidate Mayor Mulenga Sata an injunction restraining the party from stopping him from contesting the presidency on account of his parentage.
This is in a matter in which Mr Sata sued PF secretary-general Bridget Atanga and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and wants the court to declare that he is eligible for election to the office of President of the Republic of Zambia.
According to a statement of claim filed in the High Court, Mr Sata also wants the court to declare that he is also eligible for election to the office of the president of the PF in accordance with the provisions of the party constitution.
Mr Sata further wants a declaration that the eligibility of the office of president of the Republic of Zambia is an evidential matter that cannot be determined as a threshold issue by the returning officer but is the preserve of the full bench of the Supreme Court.
He also wants a declaration that the eligibility for election to the office of president of the PF on grounds of the parentage clause is an evidential matter that cannot be determined as a threshold issue by the returning officer or electoral commission of the PF but is a preserve of the High Court.
Mr Sata said he would suffer irreparable and ruinous damage if he is prevented from exercising his constitutional right to contest the election for the office of president of the Republic of Zambia.
He said there have been false and malicious allegations allegedly calculated to disqualify him from contesting the presidency of the PF and that these have been attributed to senior party members.
In delivering his ruling, High Court judge Isaac Chali granted Mr Sata an injunction restraining the PF from preventing him from contesting the party presidency.