President Edgar Lungu of Zambia has warned the constitutional court Judges not to prevent him from running for another term in office in the 2021 elections.
President Lungu who seeks to run for a third term in office, told party supporters that, the Judges could plunge the Country into chaos if they made “adventurous” rulings cautioning them not to take the part of the Supreme Court which annulled the results of the August 8, Presidential poll in Kenya.
Lungu’s allies have asked the Supreme Court to confirm his eligibility to run in the 2021 Presidential election.
However, opposition say that the bid for a third term in office would break the constitution which bars leaders from contesting for a third term in office. Lungu has argued that his first term in office does not count as he took over following the death of the previous leader, Michael Sata in 2014, without conducting an election.
”To my colleagues in the Judiciary, I am just warning you because I have information that some of you want to be adventurous, your adventure should not plunge us into chaos please,” Lungu said.
The Law Association of Zambia has asked Lungu to withdraw his warning saying it “undermine the authority of the Judiciary and erode public confidence in the institution”.
Zambia’s Supreme Court is due to meet on November 16, 2017, to consider the election case but has since made no comment on the warning.
A lot of African countries have been marred with political crisis following refusal for incumbent leaders to relinquish power.
In 2006, Nigeria’s Senate had overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to amend the constitution which would have given former President Olusegun Obasanjo eligibility to run for a third term in office.
Yahya Jammeh of Gambia had also refused to step down, almost plunging the nation into chaos before the intervention of joint military operation saw him agree to step down, also DR Congo’s Joseph Kabila has continuously delayed stepping down by postponing elections on several occasions.
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and a host of others have held on to power for more than a decade.
