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A fresh legal confrontation has unfolded in the wake of the Constitutional Court’s landmark decision declaring Bill 7 illegal, a ruling that has now placed Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti, her two deputies, Justice Minister Princess Kasune, senior parliamentary officials, and all 172 Members of Parliament on the brink of contempt proceedings.
According to an affidavit filed before the Constitutional Court, the group, now listed as alleged contemnors one through 172, is accused of defying the Court’s June 27, 2025 judgment, which pronounced the legislative process leading to Bill 7 unconstitutional for lacking mandatory public consultation.
The filing frames the conduct of the Speaker and her team as not merely procedural oversight but a deliberate challenge to the authority of the Court.
In an affidavit sworn by first petitioner Celestine Mukandila, the second petitioner, he argued that the defiance was not subtle.
He pointed to First Deputy Speaker Malungo Chisangano, who, in a video circulated across multiple media platforms, announced that she had received communication from the Minister of Justice indicating that Bill 7 which was deferred on June 26 would be brought back before the House.
Mukandila argued that Chisangano went further, informing MPs that the parliamentary committee responsible for scrutinising the Bill would immediately commence its sittings.
These actions, he argued, strike at the heart of the Court’s ruling. By declaring Bill 7 “null and void ab initio,” the Court effectively erased the Bill from the legislative agenda, and Mukandila insisted that any attempt to revive it — even indirectly, is unlawful.
The petitioner contended that the Speaker and MPs’ decision to proceed with any aspect of the Bill amounts to a “highly contemptuous and disrespectful” affront to the Court.
He argued that all officials and legislators participating in what he described as an “illegal constitutional amendment process” have willingly placed themselves in contempt.
Mukandila insisted that the Constitutional Court retained full jurisdiction to cite every participant for contempt and invites the judges to take judicial notice of what he characterises as a blatant disregard for constitutional order.
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