HIGH COURT DISMISSES GEOFFREY CHUMBWE’S CHONGWE EAST ELECTION PETITION OVER LATE FILING

HIGH COURT DISMISSES CHUMBWE’S CHONGWE EAST ELECTION PETITION OVER LATE FILING Lusaka, 22 September 2026 — The Lusaka High Court has dismissed an election petition filed by Geoffrey Chumbwe challenging the outcome of the Chongwe East parliamentary election after finding that the petition was filed outside the mandatory 14-day period prescribed by law. High Court […]

HIGH COURT DISMISSES CHUMBWE’S CHONGWE EAST ELECTION PETITION OVER LATE FILING

Lusaka, 22 September 2026 — The Lusaka High Court has dismissed an election petition filed by Geoffrey Chumbwe challenging the outcome of the Chongwe East parliamentary election after finding that the petition was filed outside the mandatory 14-day period prescribed by law.

High Court Judge E. Pengele ruled that Mr. Chumbwe, cited as the second petitioner in the consolidated Chongwe East election petitions, should have filed his petition by 31 August 2026, after the election result was declared on 15 August.

The Court found that the petition was instead filed on 2 September 2026, after the statutory deadline had expired. Justice Pengele held that the petition was therefore irregularly before the Court and should not have been received by the Registry.

Mr. Chumbwe’s lawyers had sought permission to serve the petition and pay security for costs outside the prescribed period, explaining that documents had been taken to the Principal Registry on 31 August and alleging that there had been a “mix-up” at the Registry.

The Court, however, found that the alleged mix-up had not been sufficiently explained or supported by tangible evidence. It further held that the central issue was not merely the late service of the petition, but that the petition itself had been filed after the statutory 14-day period had expired.

Justice Pengele consequently dismissed Mr. Chumbwe’s election petition, citing section 100(3) of the Electoral Process Act, which requires a parliamentary election petition to be presented within 14 days of the declaration of the election result. The Court made no order as to costs.

The ruling relates specifically to the petition brought by Chumbwe. Sylvia Tembo Masebo is listed separately as the first petitioner in the consolidated proceedings challenging the election of Anita Kamanga, and this ruling does not dismiss Masebo’s petition.

Kamanga, who stood as an independent candidate, was declared elected in Chongwe East with 16,058 votes, compared with Masebo’s 6,798 and Chumbwe’s 3,185, according to the officially reported election results.

The ruling was delivered in Lusaka on 22 September 2026.