Lusaka lawyer drags Speaker Mutti to court over decision to unseat Chawama lawmaker, Tasila Lingu

A legal challenge has been filed in the Constitutional Court after Lusaka lawyer Tresford Chali petitioned against Speaker Nelly Mutti’s decision to unseat Chawama MP Tasila Lungu, arguing that the Speaker breached the Constitution by relying on the wrong law.

Chali is seeking to nullify and quash the Speaker’s November 28 ruling that declared the Chawama seat vacant, insisting that the decision is “null and void ab initio” because it violates Article 72(2)(c) of the Constitution.

He argued that Article 72(2)(c) can only be invoked when a Member of Parliament acts contrary to a prescribed code of conduct, and not merely contrary to Standing Orders.

In his petition, filed on Monday and citing the Attorney General as respondent, Chali maintained that the Speaker erred by treating Standing Orders as if they were a statutory code of conduct, contrary to Article 266 which defines “prescribed” as conduct provided for in an Act of Parliament.

Read more: Speaker declares ex-president Lungu’s daughter, Tasila’s Chawama seat vacant after prolonged absence

According to Chali, “the only lawful code of conduct for parliamentarians is contained in the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct Act, Chapter 16 of the Laws of Zambia, and not in the Standing Orders of 2024.”

Despite this, Speaker Mutti cited Standing Orders 215 and 243, which relate to gross disorderly conduct and procedures for seeking permission to be absent, in declaring the seat vacant.

The petition stated that the Speaker failed to identify any provision of the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct Act that Lungu had breached and did not refer to the Act at all in her ruling.

The matter dates back to July 2025, when the Speaker directed Lungu to return to Parliament within 14 days following the opening of the Fifth Session of the 13th National Assembly, a directive Lungu did not comply with. On November 28, the Speaker invoked Article 72(2)(c) to declare the seat vacant.

Chali is now asking the Constitutional Court to declare the Speaker’s decision unconstitutional, issue an order of certiorari to quash the ruling, and stay the enforcement of the vacancy declaration until the matter is fully determined.

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