The petition to unseat Mwandi's independent MP, Iris Kaingu, produced a run of awkward admissions this week — not from the respondent's camp but from witnesses called by the petitioner. The Zambian Observer and News Diggers report that the High Court, sitting in Mongu before Judge Willie Sinyangwe, heard from a 41-year-old former Mwandi local-court magistrate who told the court he had been involved in bribing voters during the August parliamentary election. Under cross-examination by Ms Kaingu's lawyer, Isaac Simbeye, he answered "yes" when asked whether he had engaged in corrupt practices and bribery while working with her campaign, News Diggers reports.
The petitioner is Sibeso Sefulo, the UPND candidate who lost the seat. She is asking the court to nullify Ms Kaingu's election for alleged electoral bribery and corrupt practices. Ms Kaingu, who is represented by a team including Likando Kalaluka, has not been found to have done anything wrong; the court was still hearing and cross-examining the petitioner's witnesses, and the Observer notes that her position has so far been put only through her lawyers' cross-examination.
What the witnesses said
According to the Observer, the former magistrate said he still supported Ms Kaingu and had voted for her even though he wanted her election nullified, that he had no evidence she instructed him to bribe anyone, and that her father, Michael Kaingu, had invited him to join the campaign and given him K1,000 — a gift in which he said he saw nothing wrong. He denied that he was testifying in the hope of having an assault case against him withdrawn, and said he could not recall the circumstances of his dismissal from the Judiciary but denied it was linked to corruption.
Other petitioner's witnesses, the Observer reports, included a UPND youth chairperson who said he voted for Ms Kaingu because she had given K1,000 towards a wedding, a UPND ward chairlady who said she had received and spent money handed out at a polling station on 13 August and had not reported it to police, and a church choir secretary who said she had received K1,000 from the former magistrate — which he had denied giving — and had voted for Ms Kaingu because of the donation, while rejecting counsel's suggestion that the word for it was "corruption". Lusaka Brief is not naming these witnesses: none has been charged with any offence.
The court's patience was tested. Both outlets report that Judge Sinyangwe warned Ms Sefulo against interfering with a witness and threatened to have her removed from the courtroom, after Mr Kalaluka objected that the public gallery was disturbing a witness. A dispute over one witness's answer about an alleged K500 payment was blamed by the petitioner's lawyer on difficulties of interpretation from Lozi, and by Mr Kalaluka on the witness changing her answer after noise from the gallery.
Confirmed vs. alleged
Confirmed: That the petition by Sibeso Sefulo against Iris Kaingu is being heard by Judge Willie Sinyangwe in Mongu; that a former Mwandi local-court magistrate told the court he had been involved in bribing voters; that several petitioner's witnesses admitted receiving money; and that the judge warned the petitioner over interference with a witness — all reported by the Zambian Observer and News Diggers.
Alleged or unverified: Whether any of the money described was given at Ms Kaingu's direction, which the former magistrate said he could not show; the Electoral Commission's position, which neither report describes; when the respondent's case opens; and when judgment can be expected. Nothing in this week's evidence amounts to a finding against the MP.
Sources: Zambian Observer, “MWANDI MP ELECTION PETITION: WITNESSES ADMIT RECEIVING MONEY, VOTING FOR KAINGU” (21 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “Ex-Magistrate admits bribing voters in Mwandi” (22 Oct 2026).