. Hichilema

By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –
LUSAKA High Court Judge, Mwila Chitabo yesterday adjourned to today the hearing of a petition, where United Party for National Development (UPND) leader,  Hakainde Hichillema is seeking the right to be heard in the presidential election petition.
Mr Justice Chitabo adjourned the matter to enable him study an application by Mr Hichilema and his vice-president for administration, Geoffrey Mwamba asking him to recuse himself from handling the petition for alleged personal bias.
Mr Justice Chitabo, was only served with the application for recusal yesterday as such he needed time to study the application before he could respond.
The Attorney General’s chamber, which was the respondent in the matter, was expected to respond to Mr Hichilema and Mr Mwamba’s application today.
Mr Hichilema and Mr Mwamba through their lawyers Messrs Malambo and Company, Messrs Mwenya and Mwitwa Chambers and Messrs Simeza, Sangwa and Associates, on Wednesday asked Mr Justice Chitabo to recuse himself from presiding over the petition or to transfer it to another Judge or a panel of High Court judges.
This was a matter, where Mr Hichilema and Mr Mwamba asked the High Court to determine that their right to be heard was violated after the Constitutional Court dismissed the Presidential petition before hearing their evidence.
According to the notice of motion for recusal and for an order of transfer, Mr Hichilema and Mr Mwamba contended that Mr Justice Chitabo could not continue handling their petition, because there was reasonable cause to question his impartiality on the ground of personal bias or perceived bias in his conduct of the proceedings.
Mr Hichilema and Mr Mwamba also argued that Mr Justice Chitabo could not continue presiding over the matter due to a conflict of interest, which disqualified him from handling the matter.
In December, last year, Mr Justice Chitabo, indefinitely adjourned the hearing of the petition after UPND cadres fought running battles with police officers, resulting in damaging of some property on court premises.