CATHOLIC  BISHOPS SLAM CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROCESS
…CALL OUT GOVERNMENT FOR LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND MISPLACED PRIORITIES

BISHOPS SLAM CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROCESS
………..CALL OUT GOVERNMENT FOR LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND MISPLACED PRIORITIES

In a scathing rebuke of the Zambian Government’s approach to the proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 7, two influential Catholic bishops have publicly condemned the ongoing process as opaque, elitist, and dangerously out of touch with the nation’s immediate needs.

Rt. Rev. Patrick Chisanga, Bishop of Mansa, has demanded that the government stop bypassing ordinary citizens in its consultation efforts. He said the process is being hijacked by a handful of political and traditional elites, who are rushing to endorse amendments that most Zambians neither understand nor have been given the chance to review.

“It is not right for a few leaders to say everyone has agreed to something in the region when people have not even been given the opportunity to express themselves,” Bishop Chisanga declared.

He warned against blind endorsement of constitutional changes by uninformed citizens, insisting that the government has a duty to explain in clear terms what Bill No. 7 entails, its implications, and its long-term impact.

“People must not be tricked or hurried into supporting what they do not understand,” Chisanga added.

The Mansa Bishop emphasized that every Zambian has the right to participate in shaping the country’s supreme law. He urged citizens to demand their space in the national dialogue, stating that the constitution is not the property of the few in power but a document that governs all.

Echoing these sentiments, Rt. Rev. Edwin Mulandu, Bishop of Mpika Diocese, delivered an equally sharp rebuke to government officials particularly Catholic leaders serving in public office calling on them to lead with truth and integrity.

“It is unacceptable to only tell the people about the benefits of this bill while hiding the real implications. People deserve to know what they are signing up for,” Bishop Mulandu said.

He raised serious concern about the proposed delimitation of constituencies, which seeks to increase the number of Members of Parliament from 156 to 211. Mulandu pointed out that such a move will heavily burden the national treasury, which is already stretched to its limits by economic decline, mounting debt, and a cost-of-living crisis.

“How can we afford more MPs when hospitals have no medicine, there is no fertilizer for our farmers, and load shedding is crippling businesses and households alike?” the Bishop questioned, calling the proposed expansion of Parliament “an insult to struggling citizens.”

In a bold recommendation, Bishop Mulandu called for the immediate shelving of the constitutional amendment process, suggesting that the government should instead focus on solving Zambia’s real problems including persistent electricity shortages, empty medical stores, and a broken agricultural system.

“The people’s pain cannot be legislated away. Let us fix the real issues before redrawing constituencies and amending laws to suit political interests,” he stated.

As pressure mounts from civil society and the Church, the government now faces a moral and political test. Will it continue bulldozing the constitutional amendment bill through selective consultations and opaque maneuvers, or will it pause to give the citizens the rightful custodians of the constitution the voice and power they deserve?

The Church has spoken. The people are watching. And the clock is ticking.

June 2, 2025
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