ConCourt Washes Hands Like Pontius Pilate on Same-Sex Law Petition — Says, “Take It to the High Court”
In a judgment that felt more like a sermon with a disclaimer, Zambia’s Constitutional Court has officially washed its hands Pilate-style and refused to hear a controversial petition that sought to challenge the constitutionality of Section 155(c) of the Penal Code the same scripture-sounding law that criminalizes same-sex relations and any acts deemed “against the order of nature.”
And just like that, the legal ark stopped at the gates of the ConCourt, and the judges said, “Not our calling. This one belongs to the High Court.”
The petition, brought by the Zambia Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) and its director Isaac Mwanza, had one holy request: “Can we, as a nation, finally define what ‘against the order of nature’ actually means?” After all, even biblical prophets got visions so why not a legal one?
Instead, Deputy Judge President Arnold Shilimi, leading six other judges, delivered what can only be described as a modern-day burning bush moment but with no fire, just legal smoke.
“This petition fails for lack of merit,” he declared, adding that the matter touches on the Bill of Rights, which only the High Court can interpret.
It was a judgment that would’ve made Nicodemus scratch his head. Was the court dodging? Or was it exercising divine restraint?
Mr. Mwanza and ZCLU had asked the court to declare Section 155(c) unconstitutional, arguing it violated Articles 8(d) and 17(1) rights to dignity, privacy, and equality. They said the law discriminates based on sexual orientation and offers no clarity, leaving room for moral confusion and legal chaos.
They pleaded: “Give us a list, Lord… sorry, Court, of what is considered natural and unnatural, so we may not sin unknowingly.”
But standing at the altar of national morality were none other than Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha and the three mighty church mother bodies Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB), and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ).
They arrived like the three wise men, bearing gifts of fire, brimstone, and Section 155. “This law is holy,” they essentially declared. “It preserves our Christian values. Let the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah know not in this Christian nation!”
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AG Kabesha added with Moses-like certainty: “The law doesn’t stop anyone from doing what they wish as long as it’s within the order of nature.” (Again, no tablets provided to clarify what that order actually is.)
Mr. Mwanza, unshaken like Daniel in the lion’s den, responded:
“We shall go to the High Court. Even the ConCourt acknowledged that these issues are important. We will not be discouraged.”
Onlookers from across Zambia, meanwhile, are having a spiritual debate of their own. One post read: “Even Solomon would struggle to define ‘order of nature’ in this generation. What is natural to one is science fiction to another!”
Another tweeted: “God made Adam and Eve not Adam and the Penal Code. But also, can someone please define what this law is talking about before all of us are judged by things we don’t understand?”
For now, the law remains untouched like the Ark of the Covenant, sacred and fearfully undefined. But one thing is clear: the battle is far from over.
The High Court is the next Mt. Sinai, where the tablets may finally be written or rewritten.
Until then, Zambia continues to tread a path somewhere between Leviticus and legal reform, balancing morality, law, and the constitution one court ruling at a time.
As the scriptures say: “My people perish for lack of knowledge” and in this case, possibly also for lack of legal clarity.
©️ KUMWESU | July 28, 2025