The 18 men were in the building this time. A day after the Lusaka High Court ordered Mukobeko Maximum Security Correctional Facility to produce them, Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu and their 16 co-applicants were brought to court on Thursday 29 October, Zambia Monitor and the Zambian Observer reported. Their constitutional bail application still did not begin. The bench of Derrick Mulenga, Davies Chibwili and Ireen Wishimanga adjourned it to 09:00 on Thursday 5 November, and, according to the defence, told both sides that there would be no fifth postponement.
The reason this time was the paperwork. Zambia Monitor reported that the applicants had filed a 32-paragraph affidavit in reply and 13 paragraphs of skeleton arguments answering the State's opposition, and that Attorney-General Mulilo Kabesha asked for time to study them. The State had first proposed 3 November, defence lawyer Milner Katolo told reporters, but the first and second applicants have another matter before a different judge that day. Katolo had argued against a fourth adjournment altogether, proposing that the court resume at 14:00 the same afternoon or on Friday morning.
The court has insisted and emphasised that this is the last adjournment.
— Milner Katolo, lawyer for the applicants, to reporters outside the Lusaka High Court on Thursday 29 October, as reported by Zambia Monitor
We asked for more time to study it because it's bulky.
— Mulilo Kabesha, Attorney-General, to reporters on Thursday 29 October, as reported by Zambia Monitor
Zambia Monitor's account of the court's position, as relayed by Katolo, is that any party not ready on 5 November will have the matter closed against it and a ruling made on the documents and arguments already filed, and that dates for the substantive petition will be set only after the bail ruling. The Zambian Observer reported that Thursday was the applicants' 63rd day in custody since their arrest on 27 August, and that they will have been held 70 days without trial by the time the court sits again. It quoted lead defence counsel Sakwiba Sikota as saying outside court that the clients have a constitutional right to bail and a speedy trial. The applicants were taken back to Mukobeko, in Kabwe, afterwards.
What the State says
The State's written opposition, reported by Zambia Monitor early on Thursday, was sworn by Senior Superintendent Donald Mulimba, the officer in charge of Crime 1 at CID headquarters. It asks the court to dismiss the application with costs. Its core argument is that the charges, treason and offences under the anti-terrorism law, require extensive investigation, including digital forensics, financial evidence and cross-border enquiries, and that a delay of about two months is not unreasonable. It cites the Canadian case R v Morin, the Zambian case Shamwana v The People and a judgment of Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court, and it argues that the applicants have not shown prejudice from the delay.
The affidavit goes further on Mundubile and Zulu, the NRPUP's presidential candidate and running mate in August. It describes them as flight risks, alleging that they evaded arrest by going into the United Nations House, and it says their political influence creates a risk of interference with State witnesses. It adds that the offences carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, that no bail conditions could guarantee attendance, and that detention is needed for public safety and national security. These are the State's allegations; none has been tested in court, and no trial has begun.
How it got here
The application has now failed to start four times. On Wednesday 28 October, Zambia Monitor reported, the sitting collapsed because the applicants had not been brought from Mukobeko and could not sign the affidavit their lawyers had drafted overnight after receiving the State's response at about 17:00 on Tuesday. Chief State Advocate Chali Hambayi said then that the adjournment followed the defence's own request for time and that the State had met the agreed filing deadline. The court ordered all 18 to be produced at 10:00 on Thursday and warned that the officer in charge of the prison would have to appear in person to explain any failure.
Katolo also told reporters on Thursday that one applicant had missed several appointments with a specialist abroad and had been given medication without a medical review, and he pointed the court to paragraph 59 of the National Prosecutions Authority's manual, which, he said, recognises constitutional bail where trial has been delayed. The applicants, who include a business executive and three former commandos as well as the two politicians, argue that detention while investigations remain incomplete violates their constitutional rights, and ask for unconditional release or bail on reasonable conditions.
The dates
- 27 August — the 18 are arrested; they have been at Mukobeko since
- October — the application is filed; two sittings pass without a hearing
- 27 October (evening) — State files its affidavit in opposition
- 28 October — third sitting fails; applicants not produced; court orders them brought on Thursday
- 29 October — all 18 in court; adjourned to 5 November at 09:00, described as the last adjournment
Confirmed vs. alleged
Confirmed: That all 18 applicants were brought to the Lusaka High Court on Thursday 29 October and the bail application was adjourned to 09:00 on 5 November (Zambia Monitor; Zambian Observer). That the State has filed an affidavit opposing bail, sworn by a senior CID officer, which asks for dismissal with costs (Zambia Monitor). That the applicants filed a 32-paragraph reply and skeleton arguments (Zambia Monitor, quoting defence counsel).
Alleged or unverified: Everything in the State's affidavit is allegation: that the applicants are flight risks, that two of them evaded arrest at the UN House, that they might interfere with witnesses. The applicants' claim that their detention is unlawful is likewise untested. Whether the court will rule on the papers or hear argument on 5 November depends on both sides being ready; the court's warning was reported by the defence, not from a written order. The Zambian Observer gives one judge's first name as Charles; Zambia Monitor and earlier reports give Davies Chibwili, which this edition uses.
Sources: Zambia Monitor, “Court rules no further adjournments in Mundubile, Zulu bail hearing” (29 Oct 2026); Zambia Monitor, “Govt wants constitutional bail denied Mundubile, Zulu, 16 other” (29 Oct 2026); Zambian Observer, “Lusaka High Court adjourns Mundubile, Makebi & 16 others to Nov 5 for bail ruling or hearing” (29 Oct 2026); Zambia Monitor, “Judge reprimands prison authorities as Mundubile, Zulu bail hearing adjourned for third time” (28 Oct 2026).