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An intense legal battle between Miles Sampa and Robert Chabinga is brewing in the High Court as the duo fight for the Patriotic Front (PF) party’s leadership.
The drama began when Morgan Ng’ona filed a case challenging his removal as Secretary-General, naming Sampa as the defendant in his capacity as PF president.
Read more: PF leadership crisis festers, as Sampa asks court to declare Ng’ona, Chabinga impostors
However, Chabinga had since applied to join the case as a defendant, claiming that he had replaced Sampa as acting president.
Chabinga’s application was based on a resolution by the PF central committee on July 3, which removed Sampa from office and replaced him with Chabinga.
Chabinga’s advocates argue that he had assumed the role and function of the PF president and is therefore the proper defendant.
Sampa, however, is opposing Chabinga’s application, arguing that he remained the legitimate president of the PF.
In his affidavit, Sampa claims that he was elected president at an extraordinary conference in Lusaka on October 24, 2023 and that his term runs for five years until October 24, 2028.
Sampa also argued that the PF constitution did not provide for the removal of an elected president through a central committee meeting and that he had dissolved the entire committee at the material time.
“The PF constitution has no provision to remove an elected president and appoint an acting party president through a purported central committee meeting,” Sampa argued.
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