M’membe and Banda Cleared By Constitutional Court

The full bench of the Consitutional Court has dismissed a petition which challenged the eligibility of Socialist Party President Fred M’membe and his running mate Dolika Banda for the August 2026 General Election.

The court rules that the petition failed to give sufficient evidence to prove their claim that Ms. Banda does not have a Grade 12 Certificate or equivalent as required by the Constitution.

Constitutional Court Judge Mapani Kawimbe said the petitioners had purely relied on evidence gained from the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).

The evidence came from a response from the ECZ to say that Ms. Banda’s Cambridge OCR General Secondary School Certificate from 1978 is not equivalent to a Grade 12 School Certificate.

Judge Kawimbe said the petitioners had to present their own evidence to prove that Ms. Banda did not possess the academic qualification needed as per the Constitution.

The petition was filed by civil liberties activist Isaac Mwanza and the Consortium of Civil Society Organisations for Good Governance and Constitutionalism.

After the judgement, Dr M’membe said the court’s decision was impartial and professional.