By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE and SAM PHIRI –
FIVE MMD Members of Parliament (MPs) have dragged their party to court, seeking an injunction to restrain national secretary, Mwansa Mbulakulima from suspending or expelling them from the party.
The five are, Kasempa MP Kabinga Pande, Lunte’s Felix Mutati, Liuwa MP Situmbeko Musokotwane, Rufunsa MP Kenneth Chipungu and Sinda parliamentarian Levy Ngoma.
Mr Pande, Dr Musokotwane, Mr Mutati, Mr Chipungu and Mr Ngoma were supporting United Party of National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema in the recent presidential elections.
The five, who have filed in five different writs of summons in the Lusaka High Court principal registry against Mr Mbulakulima, are being represented by Martha Mushipe from Mushipe and company.
Mr Pande (MMD national chairperson), Mr Mutati, Mr Chipungu (chairperson for election), Mr Ngoma and Dr Musokotwene and 15 other party members were expelled from the party on January 31, 2015.
During a Press briefing over the weekend, the MMD announced that 18 members of the MMD including the five had been expelled from the party claiming that the decision to expel them was arrived at after a national executive committee meeting attended by more than 40 members.
But the five have contended that the purported meeting was illegally held and any resolution of the meeting is null and void.
They want the court to declare that they are still members of the MMD and that their purported expulsion from the party is null and void.
Mr Chipungu has asked the court to restrain the MMD from notifying the Speaker of the National Assembly of the expulsion and further asking the speaker to nullify his seat.
The five want to be granted an order of interim injunction restraining the MMD whether by themselves or their servants or agents from being members of the MMD.
Mr Ngoma wants the  court to further restrain the MMD from harassing or intimidating him in any manner  whatsoever until the full determination of the matter and that they be no interference  with his enjoyment  of his membership and privileges of belonging to the MMD.
Meanwhile, MMD national secretary Mwansa Mbulakulina has said his party has written to Parliament to nullify the seats of the expelled ‘rebel’ MPs.
Mr Mbulakulima said the speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini had since received the letter declaring the six MPs as non-members of the former ruling party.