DP appeals against its reregistration
By Staff Reporter
THE Democratic Party has appealed to the Minister of Home Affairs against cancellation of its registration.
On Saturday, The Mast reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs had cancelled the registration of Democratic Party (DP).
But the Democratic Party indicated that it would appeal the government’s decision to deregister it.
In a letter dated June 6, 2018 addressed to DP secretary general, chief registrar of societies Thandiwe Mhende stated that following DP’s inability to address the issue of why their society should not be cancelled, the Registrar of Societies had invoked the provisions of the societies Act, Cap 119 of the Laws of Zambia to have their registration cancelled under Section 13(2) (d).
“Reference is made to the above captioned matter and your letter dated June 4, 2018, as response to the letter which this office addressed to the Democratic Party dated May 23, 2018. You may wish to note that, the correspondence of May 23, 2018 to yourselves was a notification of intension to cancel your registration for being a non-existent society. The same letter invited your party to show cause why your society’s registration should not be cancelled. I have humbly noted with dismay that your response to the notification of intention to cancel your registration has diverted from addressing the issue of why this office should not proceed to cancel your registration for non-existence,” stated Mhende.
“Additionally, you may wish to take note that Registrar of Societies has observed with dismay that your letter at the concerns raised to have the registration of your society cancelled. For the record, I wish to state that the allegations raised in your letter are unfortunate as this department is an independent and professional body with the mandate obtained purely from the societies Act Cap 119 of the Laws of Zambia. However, following your inability to address the issue of why your society should not be cancelled, I therefore, invoke the provisions of the societies Act, Cap 119 of the Laws of Zambia to have your registration cancelled under Section 13(2) (d).”
But in an appeal letter to the Minister of Home Affairs dated June 18 and undersigned by party president Gift Kalumba and national secretary Precious Ntambu, the DP cited Section 16 of the societies Act Cap 119 of the Laws of Zambia.
Kalumba and Ntambu stated that the appeal operated as a nullity to the chief registrar’s decision to deregister the DP.
Section 16 of the societies Act Cap 119 of the Laws of Zambia states that where the certificate of registration has been cancelled by the registrar, the aggrieved party may appeal to the Minister within 21 days.
The Act, however, does not go further to provide a timeframe within which the appeal must be heard by the Minister.
“We refer to the above matter and hereby appeal to your good office against the decision of the Chief Registrar of Societies, Mrs Thandiwe S.P. Mhende, (hereinafter “the registrar”) to cancel the registration of the Democratic Party. This appeal is made to your office pursuant to the provisions of section 16 of the Societies Act, Chapter 119 of the Laws of Zambia (hereinafter “the Act”) and Rule 18 of the Societies Rules, subsidiary legislation to the Act,” Kalumba and Ntambu stated.
After delving into the detailed background to the appeal, the duo outlined grounds of dissatisfaction with the decision of the registrar of societies.
“The party contends that [the] decision of the registrar was erroneous and unreasonable because as can be seen from the contents of its letter of 4th June, 2018 (attachment No. PN14 hereto), the party did in fact explain to the registrar why the party’s registration should not be cancelled and in the said letter, the party proffered the following specific main reasons as to why its registration should not be cancelled, which we still maintain: The party had duly regularised its obligations with the registrar’s office by paying for its annual returns up to 2017 particularly during the amnesty period extended to all societies by the Registrar to do so; (i) The party was not informed of the particular findings of the inspection conducted by the registrar’s office on 17th and 18th May 2018 at the party’s registered office to enable the party respond to the findings specifically but that during the inspection, the inspectors were accompanied by the party’s vice-national secretary, Mr Evans Chilambwe, who attended to the questions the inspectors had raised,” the letter of appeal stated.
“Given the background to the matter as highlighted above and the reasons furnished in the letter of 4th June 2018 as highlighted in the preceding paragraph, the Party contends that the Registrar did not exercise her discretion to cancel the registration of the Party fairly or properly and we accordingly seek your indulgence to quash the Registrar’s decision to deregister the Party.”
Kalumba and Ntambu contended that the DP was still desirous of actively participating in politics in Zambia in accordance with all applicable laws and that such was evident from the fact that the party had regularised its records with the registrar.
“And the continued existence and registration of the party will not be prejudicial or inimical to the interests of the nation but conversely, the party will strengthen the democratic tenets of our country as enshrined in the Republican Constitution,” the duo stated.
Kalumba and Ntambu also included the reliefs that the Minister of Home Affairs could, possibly, grant to them.
“Nullify the decision of the registrar to cancel the registration of the party, forthwith and direct the registrar to issue the party with a duplicate certificate of registration. We trust your office will attend to our appeal shortly and thank you in anticipation of your favourable consideration,” stated Kalumba and Ntambu.
