By Joy Nyambe
TASILA LUNGU has lost her CHAWAMA parliamentary seat.
This follows a resolution by the National Assembly to invoke Article 72(8) of the Constitution, which permits the Speaker of the National Assembly to notify the Electoral Commission of Zambia –ECZ- of a vacancy.
Speaker of the National Assembly NELLY MUTTI said she will inform the ECZ of the vacancy in the Chawama parliamentary seat.
Ms. MUTTI said while she accepts the Committee on Privileges and Absences conducted a thorough examination of the matter, she does not agree with its recommendation to allow Ms. LUNGU to attend sittings of the House virtually.
She noted that Ms. LUNGU has not provided representation to the people of Chawama Constituency since June 2025, and there is no clear indication of when the legal process surrounding the burial of her late father will conclude.
Ms. MUTTI added that a precedent had been set in the ruling on a Point of Order raised on 15 October 2024 by Katombora MP CLEMENT ANDELEKI regarding the status of the then Petauke MP, EMMANUEL JAY BANDA, following his absence from the House after disappearing from Chipata Central Hospital.
In that case, the House resolved that she invokes Article 72(8) of the Constitution by informing the ECZ of the vacancy in the Petauke Central parliamentary seat.
