CATHOLIC BISHOPS OPPOSE BILL 7 BEFORE 2026 ELECTIONS
ZAMBIA Conference of Catholic Bishops President Archbishop Ignatius Chama has cautioned government against enacting Bill 7 a few months before the 2026 general elections.
Addressing the media, Archbishop Chama insisted that the people must drive the constitution amendment process.
“On 1st October, Catholic Bishops wrote a pastoral letter speaking against government’s decision to take to Parliament Bill 7 of 2025. We heard the Constitutional Court’s ruling about what government was supposed to do by consulting the people about Bill 7. Fortunately, the President said he would not continue with Bill 7, and we were all in one accord that it’s not only government that needs to make a decision on behalf of the people.
However, it didn’t take time. We heard in the National Assembly that Bill 7 is not dead and that it would be resurrected until enacted into law. This caught us by surprise. We wrote another pastoral letter as Catholic Bishops to the people of Zambia and called on all members of parliament to listen to God’s voice in their hearts and refuse to bring back Bill 7 to Parliament,” he said in Bemba.
“The following day, on 2nd October, we saw names of those appointed by the President to be on the Technical Committee to draft constitution amendments by widely consulting people across the country. This was how it was supposed to be since the beginning of constitutional amendments, before government drafted Bill 7.
Government does not own the Constitution. The people must drive their own constitution amendment process and exclude what they feel is not helpful, not government. Not only the clergy, traditional leaders, the educated or the rich or the ruling party should take part in the constitution amendment process. This is not it. Everyone must take part in the constitution amendments. Government must help people who should efficiently take part in this process”.
Archbishop Chama said it was clear that government wanted Bill 7 enacted before the 2026 elections.
“Since the Technical Committee on Constitution Amendments has been constituted, it is well-intended. But even if we don’t speak, will this Committee manage to conduct consultations in the entire country and give time to people to express themselves within a short period of time before the 2026 general elections?
Are the resources the Committee will be using included in the 2025 national budget? Farmers have produced maize and sold to FRA but have not been paid. Will it not help us as a country if this Committee is given ample time to conduct wide consultations on constitution amendments beyond the 2026 elections?” he asked.
“Let’s ask for God’s guidance on this constitution amendment process. Speed kills. The world will not come to an end if this process doesn’t end before the 2026 elections because it has clearly shown that the government wants Bill 7, which is dead, to be enacted before the 2026 elections. This is not how it is supposed to be.
We must all be truthful if we’re to serve the people. By doing things in a rush, we’ve turned into a country that wants to change the Constitution each time there’s a change of government. We’ve become a country that changes the Constitution in line with what government wants, and not what people want”.
Archbishop Chama called on people to pray for the Technical Committee on Constitution amendments as they embark on the important process.
“Government and the people must listen to God’s voice in our hearts by doing what the people of Zambia want in the constitution amendments and not what government wants. Let’s pray for the Technical Committee members so that they are truthful and be fearful of God and want the best for the country.
In conclusion, the President has appointed a Technical Committee saying, ‘only a truly people-driven process can yield a Constitution that strengthens national unity, enhances inclusivity and responds faithfully to the aspirations of all Zambians’. These were the words of the President when appointing the Committee. Let’s wait and see if this will happen,” said Archbishop Chama.
News Diggers
The idea is to change the constitution before elections so that useful-to-government changes are made in the next session.
I listened to the President when he was swearing in the Constitutional Amendment Technical Committee, and drew a blank on what he was saying.
What is this committee supposed to do? Are we Amending the Constitution or are we coming up with a completely new Constitution? What are the Terms of Reference? What is the Time line.
Is it an open ended Constitunal Consultative process or it is confined to the 2016 Amended Constitution?
Is Bill 7 part of the Consultative Process?
The Tasks of this Committee were vague and not clearly spelt out. Usually when a Committee is being sworn in , the broad objective is given. I didn’t see that in the President’s address.
When Mr Hakainde Hichilema starts speaking in Codes, making noise on Irrelevant issues, just know that the Process is not what it looks like on the Surface. The man is a see through.
” Time is Money… Time is a Cost . We need the money for Free Education” .That was Mr Hakainde Hichilema..
And I laughed.
You think you can fool a Corleone???
He is subtly telling this committee that he needs the Constitution like yesterday..He doesn’t want the committee to spend adequate time to get views from the people.
He has been forced to go along this path, and is not interested in any views from the people. He already has Bill 7.
But the Zambians are alert. Any underhand method , schemes, Imingalato by this committee will be stopped in their it’s tracks.
And the Man will be stopped again!
We await the Terms of Reference and Timeline, and the People will SPEAK..and ACT appropriately.
Hakainde is trying to manipulate the constitution to perpetuate his time in office and save his own skin. It will not happen though. The Church, civil institutions, citizens and the army will not allow any manoeuvres that are likely to cause chaos in Zambia. Hakainde overestimates himself. We have had a lot more powerful presidents before, and they have all gone. Him, a weakling, thinks he can outsmart citizens using oppression and cyber laws. The man is a total clown if he really thinks that. He needs to accept that he will be a one term president, otherwise he will be as shocked as his best friend ex Malawi president.
COPY AND PASTE SOUTHERN PROVINCE.
UMUFULO PA MUFULO.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
How are benefits of delimitation going to be implemented after 2026 elections without constitutional amendments? Be real men of God and stop being partisan. Just go and submit your views to the technical committee and stop being cry babies. We know where you stand, where you we personally benefiting. Look beyond what you can see. Which president in Zambia did not amend the constitution just a year before elections? Where we you then? Why didn’t you object? Why now? Stop being political and tribal. First question about the composition of your conference of bishops. You don’t speak for everyone in this nation. Zambia is a Christian nation tolerant to other religions and not a catholic state. Relax. Remember constitutional amendments in 1991, 1996, 2016. Why not now? Unip did it, MMD did it, PF did it and now why not UPND?
Any changes should be done after elections and not before. And not all changes are necessary.
To start with ow many Bishops do we have in Zambia? Probably 30- 50, to be consecutive. And how many Catholics of the voting age do we have in Zambia? Again consecutively we put at 300,000. Now the question is have these so called Bishops asked their members whether they want an amendment or not? Havey the considered the views of those who don’t go to church? These Bishops should stop their primitive way of holding the nation to ransom. The government was elected by a very big margin ever in the history of elections in Zambia to rule based on their manifesto. No one has ever voted for these Bishops, they are selected somewhere in a very small nation and not even the Catholic Christians are given a say in their selection. It’s time these Bishops were put in their place. We are told in the bible to give what belongs to Caesar and also give to God what belongs to God. Why is it so difficult for the Bishops to fail to follow what is in the Bible. We need to move beyond this level of stupid being preached by the Bishops. They have no mandate to enforce their stupid wishes. Some of them have very low IQs. You can’t expect constituencies that have grown 5 folds to be represented by the same number of MPs who did so in 1964. The numbers have grown * 5 the original of 1964 and so means consumption like say water, electricity, land, food, school requirements and many infrastructure requirements. To cater for the large & wide constituencies which had low populations, things have to change in order to share and spread the resources. These
Bishops with myopic reasoning should not stand in the way. It is naivety to think the prices of essentials can remain the same as in 1964. If this is the reasoning of the Bishops, I would encourage Zambians to consider and start following other faiths.