Kalaba Urges Constitutional Court to Dismiss Petition Challenging His Presidential Candidature

 

Lusaka, July 30, 2026

Citizens First president Harry Kalaba has asked the Constitutional Court to dismiss, with costs, a petition seeking to prevent him from contesting the August 13 presidential election.

Kalaba argues that the withdrawal of his former running mate does not invalidate his nomination as a presidential candidate.

In his response filed before the court, Kalaba states that he remains a duly nominated candidate because neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Process Act provides that the withdrawal of a running mate after nominations automatically cancels an otherwise valid presidential nomination.

He says he was lawfully nominated by the Electoral Commission of Zambia alongside his running mate after satisfying all constitutional and statutory requirements.

Kalaba acknowledges that his former running mate, Moses Mawere, later withdrew from the race, but contends that the withdrawal has no legal effect on his own candidature.

“The Constitution does not provide that the subsequent withdrawal of a running mate automatically nullifies a valid nomination or disqualifies a presidential candidate. Having been validly nominated by the Electoral Commission of Zambia, the second respondent’s nomination remains valid,” Kalaba states.

He argues that the petitioner has misinterpreted the Constitution by treating the absence of a running mate as an automatic ground for disqualification, despite the Constitution containing no express provision to that effect.

Kalaba also denies breaching Articles 90, 110 and 266 of the Constitution.

According to his response, the cited provisions neither govern the continuing validity of presidential nominations nor prescribe disqualification where a running mate withdraws after nominations have closed.

“Where the Constitution intends to disqualify a presidential candidate, it does so in clear and mandatory language. In the absence of such a provision, this court ought not to read into the Constitution a ground of disqualification,” he states.

Kalaba has therefore asked the Constitutional Court to dismiss the petition and award him costs.

The petition was filed by Youth Alliance Party president Mark Mwachilenga, who is seeking a declaration that Kalaba and Organised People’s Party president Brian Mushimba are no longer eligible to participate in the August 13 election because they no longer have running mates.

In the alternative, Mwachilenga wants the court to permit the two candidates to nominate replacement running mates before polling day.

The matter is among several legal disputes arising from a notable number of candidate and running-mate withdrawals ahead of the election.

Governance Elections Advocacy Research Services Initiative board chairperson Luckson Lungu has said the withdrawals contributed to recent constitutional amendments intended to prevent disruptions to the electoral calendar.

The Constitutional Court has not yet delivered its ruling.

Polling day is scheduled for August 13, 2026.

The case remains before the court, and no final determination has been made on the candidates’ eligibility.