THE Constitutional Court has dismissed a petition seeking reinstatement by a former Zambia Air Force (ZAF) officer who was sentenced to six years imprisonment but was released under a presidential pardon.

In January of 2021, the Lusaka Magistrates Court convicted Mildred Luwaile and sentenced her to six years in prison for torturing and assaulting her 11-year-old niece, who was under her care.

However, she was pardoned on October 24, 2021 for the crime she committed on March 25, 2019 in Lusaka.

In her petition to the Constitutional Court, Luwaile, who was a second lieutenant, sought a declaration that an unconditional presidential pardon erases the offence she was convicted of.

She also argued that her dismissal from employment was illegal and unfair, given the unconditional nature of the pardon, and requested an order directing ZAF to reinstate her.

After hearing the case, Constitutional Court president Margaret Munalula, along with judges Mudford Mwandenga and Kenneth Mulife, dismissed the petition.

The court ruled that the presidential pardon did not erase Luwaile’s conviction or the legal disqualifications (the conviction and sentence) that led to her dismissal.

Instead, the pardon merely reduced her period of incarceration.

CREDIT: Zambia Daily Mail.