Zambia : Let Courts Decide, Historian Says Of Mukandila Dispute
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NewsLusaka - Zambia: Tonse-Pamodzi linked Mr Mukandila's case to the continued detention of Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu and Bishop Trevor Mwamba on treason
Headlines 3 min.Read Let courts decide, historian says of Mukandila dispute By Moses Musokotwane September 9, 2026 FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsAppHistorian Dr Eustone Chiputa says the dispute over detained lawyer Celestine Mukandila’s nationality should be settled by a court of law, not by ministers or permanent secretaries, as the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance separately demands his immediate and unconditional release along with the restoration of his National Registration Card and passport.
Mr Mukandila, secretary general of the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) and of the wider Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance, was arrested on August 20 after the Department of Immigration detained him on the allegation that he is not Zambian. Government has since revoked his identity card and passport.
Dr Chiputa said questions of this nature belong squarely with the judiciary. “They should not be settled by ministers or permanent secretaries; those are not experts at law. That is why we have the Judiciary, anything that is contested let it be settled by the court of law,” he said.
He argued that a court ruling would settle the matter cleanly, removing the personal element that has defined the dispute so far. “If the government took the gentleman to court and the court proved that it was true, it will be the case settled by the court of law and he will not be looking at individuals. For now, he is looking at individuals as people who are victimising him.”
Dr Chiputa said leaders handling contested legal questions should remain impartial rather than emotional. “Let that case go to court and let him prove he is Zambian,” he said, adding that a fair hearing would protect both sides: government, if its allegation held up, and Mr Mukandila, if it did not.
“If, for example, for argument’s sake they bundle him out of Zambia, he will go to the international system and say he was victimised because he was never allowed to go to court,” Dr Chiputa said.
He drew a comparison with ordinary criminal process, noting that law enforcement agencies routinely take suspects to court rather than deciding guilt themselves, even when evidence appears clear-cut. “The case is tested in court. The conviction is secured and the person is locked up. It takes a judicial face rather than the faces of individuals who are handling the case,” he said.
Mr Mukandila’s own account is that he is Zambian by descent. He says his mother was Zambian, from Chief Matanda’s chiefdom in Luapula Province, while his father was Congolese. He has taken the matter to court himself, and the Lusaka High Court has since granted him leave to apply for a writ of habeas corpus, ordering the state to justify his continued detention.
Tonse-Pamodzi has now built a constitutional argument around that claim. In a statement issued by media director Brian Matambo, the alliance cited Article 36 of the Constitution, which recognises as a citizen by descent any person born outside Zambia where at least one parent was a Zambian citizen by birth or descent.
The alliance drew a pointed comparison to footballer Frankie Musonda, born in England to a Zambian father and an English mother, who represents Zambia’s Chipolopolo. “If a son of a Zambian can wear our national colours on the football pitch, why should a son of a Zambian suddenly become a foreigner when he enters the political arena and uses his legal brilliance to challenge government?” the statement asked. “If Frankie Musonda can play for Zambia, Celestine Mukandila can participate in Zambian politics. The Constitution cannot change depending on whether the citizen is scoring goals for Zambia or challenging the President in court.”
The statement also placed Mr Mukandila’s case in a wider legal history. It noted that he was among the lawyers who successfully challenged the constitutional amendment process behind Bill 7, with the Constitutional Court ruling that the process required wider public consultation. Parliament’s own records list him as one of the petitioners in that case. The Bill was later revived and assented to as Act No. 13 of 2025.
Tonse-Pamodzi linked Mr Mukandila’s case to the continued detention of Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu and Bishop Trevor Mwamba on treason charges, arguing that the state should place credible evidence before an independent court “without delay” or release all those held. “Stop governing Zambia through fear. Stop manufacturing enemies. Let the Constitution, evidence and the courts speak,” the statement said.
For now, the matter sits where Dr Chiputa says it belongs: before the courts. With the High Court having granted leave for a habeas corpus application, the next step is a hearing that will test, on the record, whether the state can justify Mr Mukandila’s continued detention.
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