CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM HELPS LIFTS WOMEN TO 60 SEATS IN PARLIAMENT
Zambia now has 60 women in the National Assembly, a total made possible by the constitutional reform enacted under President Hakainde Hichilema.
Of the 224 members returned in the 13 August vote, 34 were women and 190 men. Two constituencies, Mandevu and Lumezi North, are yet to go to the polls.
A further 26 women have entered Parliament through the 40 proportional representation seats created by the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No. 13 of 2025. Without that reform, women would make up roughly 15 per cent of the House. They now account for close to 23 per cent.
Women also went beyond the allocation set aside for them. Twenty PR seats were reserved for women, and women took all 20, then five of the 15 youth seats and one of the five seats for persons with disabilities.
The UPND has 41 women in Parliament, 20 elected and 21 through proportional representation. The NRPUP has 14, nine elected and five through PR. Four sit as independents and one for Citizens First.
Among those entering through the new seats are UPND deputy secretary general Gertrude Imenda, former Lusaka deputy mayor Ketty Nanyangwe, Dr Irene Muyenga, and Democratic Party president Judith Kabemba, alongside youth members including Jemimah Mwaba and Fatima Moono Sicheele
The reform was designed to broaden who sits in the chamber. On the first count, it has done so, adding in a single Parliament almost as many women again as the electorate returned.