172 | Zimbabwe Rule of Law Journal associated with their portfolios and draw salaries and allowances when Parliament was dissolved. The second petitioner averred that the Vice President and Cabinet Ministers held their Cabinet portfolios by virtue of being Members of Parliament and that they could not be a Vice-President or Cabinet Minister without first being elected or nominated as Member of Parliament. It was argued further that the failure by the President of the Republic of Zambia to dissolve his Cabinet following the dissolution of Parliament was a deliberate infringement of the Constitution and that, in so doing, the President had failed in his duties to, among others, respect, uphold and safeguard the Constitution and the sovereignty of the Republic and to promote democracy and enhance the unity of the nation and to uphold the rule of law. The petitioners submitted that upon dissolution of Parliament on the 11 May 2016 all Members of Parliament ceased to hold their positions by operation of law.28 Counsel for the petitioners argued that Article 81(8) of the Constitution only allowed for the President to continue in office until the President-elect assumes office. For that reason, it was only the President, the Speaker and the First Deputy Speaker who could survive the dissolution of Parliament and that the constitution did not provide for the Vice-President and Cabinet Ministers to continue in office upon the dissolution of Parliament. The constitutional court ruled that the Ministers and their Deputies were in office illegally following the dissolution of Parliament and they were therefore ordered to pay back all the salaries and other allowances which they had illegally accrued and vacate office with immediate effect. In its land mark ruling, the constitutional court added that President Edgar Lungu was wrong to maintain 28 Article 72(1) of the Constitution of Zambia provides that with the exception of the Speaker and the First Deputy Speaker, a Member of Parliament shall vacate the seat in the National Assembly upon the dissolution of Parliament. And that, while by definition, Parliament includes the President and the National Assembly, the dissolution of Parliament only affects Members of Parliament as specified in Article 68(2) with the exception of the Speaker and the First Deputy Speaker.