Tuesday at Solwezi: the magistrate rules on jurisdiction for Mundubile and Zulu — and a plea, at last, may follow

The question on Tuesday is not guilt — it is geography. Solwezi Principal Resident Magistrate Mambwe Mukonde will rule on 13 October on the defence application challenging her court's jurisdiction to try Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu on two counts of seditious practices, and has indicated the plea could follow the ruling. The defeated NRPUP presidential candidate and his running mate say the alleged offence — Facebook livestreams published in the tense days after the 13 August election — happened in Lusaka, 600 kilometres from the courtroom hearing the case.

The path to Tuesday has been procedural trench warfare. When the matter came up on 6 October, Magistrate Mukonde declined the defence's bid to make oral submissions, ruling that the issues intended to be raised orally had already been adequately addressed in the documents before the court; she instead granted seven days for written submissions and adjourned for the ruling. The State, led in earlier appearances by Director of Public Prosecutions Gilbert Phiri, has been ready to proceed since September. The defence has been ready to argue about where since September. Tuesday decides whose readiness counts.

The charges themselves arise from the count that stopped. Mr Mundubile is alleged to have posted that the NRPUP led the presidential race on its Parallel Vote Tabulation and demanded that the Electoral Commission of Zambia resume counting and announce results; Mr Zulu is alleged to have posted that Mr Mundubile would shortly address the nation, urging the public to remain on standby. The ECZ had suspended the counting and announcement of results nationwide on 14 August, citing violence against polling staff and the theft of marked ballot papers — a suspension the EU observation mission said was followed by a deterioration in the transparency of tabulation. Both men deny the charges; seditious practices under Section 57 of the Penal Code is a bailable offence, though the pair remain in custody on the separate matter.

That separate matter is the heavier file: the treason case in which Mundubile and Zulu are listed among 18 accused allegedly linked to a militia group, reserved for the High Court and yet to reach a plea. Their lawyer, Sakwiba Sikota, has challenged the State to televise that trial when it comes, and says he learned of his clients' road transfer to Solwezi on social media. The Government, for its part, told the UN this week to let the courts decide whether the charges are valid. On Tuesday morning, one of those courts begins to.

Sources: Times of Zambia, “Court rejects oral submissions in Mundubile case” (6 Oct 2026); ZNBC on the 13 October ruling date (6 Oct 2026); Lusaka Times, “Mundubile And Zulu Taken To Solwezi For Sedition Plea…” (4 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “We learnt of Mundubile's Solwezi transfer on social media – Lawyer” (5 Oct 2026); Mwebantu on the sedition-treason distinction (25 Sept 2026).