The detention of opposition leader Brian Mundubile, his running mate Makebi Zulu and 16 other detainees will be argued before a three-judge panel of the High Court from 26 October to 6 November, the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance announced on Friday. The constitutional petition — filed in Lusaka on 11 September by lawyers for the 18 — challenges the circumstances of their arrests, detention and transfers between correctional facilities, and alleges restrictions on access to lawyers and family members. It names as respondents the Attorney General, Harrington Akusanga, and the Zambia Correctional Service Commissioner General, Fredrick Chilukutu.
The petition invokes Articles 1, 13, 15 and 18 of the Constitution. Article 13 matters most to the applicants: it protects personal liberty, including the right to be informed of the reasons for arrest and to be brought before a competent court within the prescribed period. The alliance's acting secretary general, Muhabi Lungu, says Mr Mundubile and Mr Zulu have spent 42 days in detention without appearing before a court on the treason allegations, and calls the detention illegal. That is the alliance's position; it is not a finding the High Court has made.
The petition's gravest pages are also its least tested. According to court documents previously reported by Zambian Eye, the petitioners allege that some detainees were held at locations not properly disclosed to their families and lawyers, that some transfers were carried out without what they consider lawful warrants, and that there was physical mistreatment and attempts to obtain information that could implicate the two leaders. Those allegations have not been tested in court, and the State will have its opportunity to respond to them in the hearing.
The detainees were moved to Mukobeko Maximum Correctional Facility in Kabwe after being formally charged with treason on 29 August. The petition is broader than its two most prominent names — it covers the wider group held in connection with the treason investigation — and it is formally distinct from the criminal case, in which the allegations themselves will be determined. The two leaders are also due back before the Solwezi Magistrates' Court on 5 and 6 October in a separate seditious-practices matter, adjourned from 25 September after Mr Mundubile told the court his lawyers were not present; the State, which said it was ready to proceed, did not oppose the adjournment.
The churches have framed the public argument — due process, humane treatment, a competent court — without naming the two men; State House has answered that an arrest establishes neither guilt nor persecution; the Economic Freedom Fighters' Kasonde Mwenda says the pair "remain caged in Maximum Prison on trumped up charges". Between those positions now stands a fortnight of judicial calendar. What the three judges decide about the manner of this detention will matter well beyond the 18 names on the petition.
Confirmed vs. alleged
Confirmed: The petition was filed on 11 September and names the Attorney General and the Correctional Service Commissioner General as respondents; the alliance says the hearing runs 26 October to 6 November before three judges; the men were charged with treason on 29 August and are held at Mukobeko; the Solwezi matter resumes on 5 and 6 October.
Alleged or untested: Mistreatment, undisclosed locations, unlawful warrants and restricted access to counsel; the claim that the detention is illegal is the petitioners' case, not a ruling.
Sources: Zambian Eye, "Mundubile, Makebi constitutional rights petition set for October hearing" (3 Oct 2026); Lusaka Times, "Mundubile And Zulu Detention Heads To The High Court From October 26" (2 Oct 2026); Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance statement signed by acting secretary general Muhabi Lungu (2 Oct 2026); Lusaka Brief archive on the Solwezi proceedings (25 Sep 2026).
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