VICE-PRESIDENT Inonge Wina should be cited for contempt of Parliament as she misled the House when she said that President Edgar Lungu’s eligibility case was settled by the courts of law, says Mazabuka Central UPND member of parliament Garry Nkombo.

Responding to Chifubu PF member of parliament Frank Ng’ambi last week, who wanted to know whether the court’s verdict of President Lungu’s eligibility was clear, Vice-President Wina insisted that the controversial eligibility question had been extensively debated and was settled by the courts.

But Nkombo stressed that the matter had never been presented before the courts of law and that Vice-President Wina should be cited for contempt of court for misleading the House on whether President Lungu was eligible or not to contest next year’s presidential election.

“It is common knowledge, lately, that the Vice-President has not been speaking factually. And so, this is one of those incidents and she really needs to be cited for contempt of the House because everyone knows what the real issue is regarding the eligibility. The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has even guided us. So, unless they went to a secret court where to have a hearing on the matter and the public have not been informed about President Lungu’s eligibility,” Nkombo said in an interview.

“So, if they went to a decent court secretly, maybe what they are saying carries substance, but the truth of the matter is that they are playing to the gallery as usual. That’s what they do and posterity will judge them soon because we only have a few months before President Lungu submits his nomination papers. So, we will see what will happen. And contempt of Parliament is a punishable offence, but the people running Parliament might choose not to punish her.”

He added that the matter should quickly be brought before the courts of law and closed the same way the Constitution Amendment Bill Number 10 was closed.

“You know, the way we closed Bill 10, we should just close it and say President Edgar Lungu is not eligible. It doesn’t mean that the more people pronounce themselves on it, the more likely it will be for him to be eligible. It is not like that. So, this should just be closed the way we closed Bill 10. It will be explained to us by one judge. That is the best way we will stop this issue from going on and on. One judge will explain to us whether he is eligible or not. But for now, he is not,” said Nkombo.