The Lusaka High Court has upheld the election of Minister of Finance and National Planning Ng'andu Magande as member of parliament for Chilanga constituency, Zambia
Times reported.
In a 122-page judgement, High Court Judge Marvin Mwanamwambwa dismissed an election petition filed by Cosmas Moono of the United Party for National Development and Patriotic Front's Priscilla Kamanga.
"I have so far found that there was no bribery and corruption as defined by the (Electoral) Act. I have so far found and held that the proven non-compliance with the Act do not warrant nullifying the election result," Judge Mwanamwambwa ruled.
Justice Mwanamwambwa dismissed the petition on another ground that the petitioners had failed to prove their case to the required standards.
He said evidence on record showed that Magande got 6,478 out of the 17,883 valid votes cast, which was less than 50 percent of the total votes cast while the opposition shared 11,405 votes cast in the area.
"In my view, Honorable Magande won the parliamentary election because the opposition spilt the votes among themselves. "
Addressing his supporters clad in Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) attire chanting slogans outside the court after the ruling, Magande said he was happy that justice had prevailed
and that he would advise President Mwanawasa to start going round the country to see how monies were sent on projects.
He thanked his supporters for being with him during his time of attending court sessions and asked them to focus on winning the 2011 general elections.
Captain Moono claimed that the judgment was not fair because it was prolonged.
He said the judgment would have been delivered on time and that the re-count was not consistent and wondered why the report was not made available to the press immediately.