Zambia : Former Constitutional Court Judge Ann-Mwewa Sitali Freed On Bail

Former Constitutional Court judge Anne Mwewa Sitali was picked up on a Wednesday night and detained at the Richard Kachingwe Police Post, accused of intending to commit a felony over legal advice she gave on the election petition filed by Brian Mundubile against President Hakainde Hichilema. She has since been released on bail. She had also applied for a writ of habeas corpus while in custody.

The charge reaches back into Justice Sitali’s own history with the bench she once sat on. On October 20, 2024, President Hichilema removed her from the Constitutional Court, together with fellow judges Mungeni Mulenga and Palan Mulonda. Critics at the time called the removals political manoeuvring ahead of this year’s elections. Less than two years later, the same court she was ousted from has become the battleground over her freedom.

Supporters of the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance, which Mr Mundubile leads, maintain that he secured a surprise win in the 2026 presidential election, pointing to parallel vote tabulations they say support that outcome. Government and the Electoral Commission of Zambia dispute this, and Mr Hichilema was declared winner for a second term with 60 per cent of the vote against Mr Mundubile’s 38 per cent.

It was in the middle of that dispute that Justice Sitali became entangled. Opposition lawyers say the case against her stems from professional legal advice she gave to attorneys preparing Mr Mundubile’s petition challenging the election outcome — work that put a former constitutional judge on the same side of a legal fight as the man now facing treason charges over the same disputed result.

Her case sits within a much larger sweep. Opposition sources and human rights monitors describe her as one of more than 300 people arrested since the August 13 election, a figure government has not confirmed. Others still held include Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance secretary general Celestine Mambula Mukandila, arrested August 20, and youths Yona Longwe and Mwape. Detainees are being held across multiple facilities in Lusaka, including Chelstone, Kabwata, Lusaka Central and Richard Kachingwe police stations and posts.

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has confirmed a lower but still substantial figure: at least 84 individuals remain under its active monitoring in connection with the election. HRC chairperson Dr Pamela Towela Sambo said many have been held past legal limits without formal charges or timely court appearances, in violation of Articles 13 and 18 of the Constitution, which guarantee the right to liberty and a fair hearing.

“The commission is monitoring several cases,” Dr Sambo said, citing specific instances of detainees held for 19 days or more without being formally charged. She called on police and prosecutors to “immediately charge, grant bond to, or release” all those whose detention lacks legal justification.

Acting Attorney-General Marshall Muchende rejects the political-detention framing. “Zambia has no prisoners of conscience or political prisoners,” he said this week, maintaining that those in custody face serious criminal charges. Authorities have accused opposition figures of plotting an armed insurgency, allegations the accused have denied.

Civil society groups and opposition leaders argue the arrests are designed to prevent any legal challenge to an election they contend was flawed. They say courts were sealed off on the final day for filing petitions, blocking a broader court challenge to the results. Mr Mundubile, who came second with 38 per cent of the vote, was himself arrested on treason charges after taking refuge at a United Nations facility.

The HRC says it will keep monitoring detention facilities and engaging with prosecutors to ensure constitutional protections are observed. “Release all those whose continued detention exposes the risk of ill-treatment, restricts access to legal representation and undermines public confidence,” Dr Sambo said.

Justice Sitali’s release resolves her own case. What remains unresolved is the wider dispute now running through it: a disputed election result, a petition still contested, and a sacked judge whose legal advice on that petition became, briefly, a criminal matter of its own.

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