⬆️ EDITORIAL | Allow The Protest, Take Bill 7 to Parliament; Don’t Hold the Constitution Hostage
Zambia has a long history of peaceful civic action. The Oasis Forum marched during the Chiluba third term saga. Citizens protested Bill 10 under President Edgar Lungu. Students, churches and trade unions have taken to the streets at different moments of national strain. Protest is not a crime. It is a constitutional right. President Hakainde Hichilema should allow the November 28 demonstration to proceed without intimidation. A democracy that fears citizens on the street is a fragile democracy in.
The second reality is equally important. The constitutional amendment process attracted thousands of submissions from citizens, civil society, traditional leaders and institutions. The technical committee travelled to all provinces. They held meetings at provincial centres. They entered chiefdoms. They met churches and local organisations.
People who wished to speak spoke. People who wished to refuse also refused. That is democracy. But refusal to participate cannot be a passport to suspend the process or erase the voices of those who engaged in good faith.
Some faith leaders and activists now demand that Bill 7 be withdrawn because they chose not to participate. That argument is hollow. The window for submissions closed. The technical committee completed its work. What remains is simple. Publish the submissions. Table the bill in Parliament. Let the elected representatives vote for or against it. The country cannot set a precedent where those who boycott a process gain the power to annul it.
This is why the Home Affairs Minister’s warnings sound misplaced. Jack Mwiimbu says protests will divide the nation. In truth, his statement only paints the government as defensive and insecure. The President has invited the organisers for dialogue. That is the correct approach. No police threat, no moral scolding and no public sermon will build trust. Trust is built by transparency.
Publish the report. Present the bill. Allow protest. Allow debate. Allow Parliament to do its work.
The opponents of Bill 7 must also prove their central claim. They insist the amendments favour President Hichilema. They warn that elections will be delayed. They tell citizens that the President will gain two extra years. These warnings have circulated for months without a single clause being quoted to substantiate them.
Zambia deserves serious arguments, not fear packaged for illiterate consumption. If the bill gives Hichilema an advantage, opponents must show the clause, the line and the legal path. Anything less is political theatre.
The government also carries blame. The communication around Bill 7 has been weak. The timeline never looked credible. No technical committee can analyse thousands of submissions in weeks. The process was allowed to lose public confidence when transparency should have been the default. The administration must fix this by publishing the submissions and explaining how the committee handled them. Silence has created suspicion.
Only openness will cure it.
Civil society and the clergy also hold responsibility. Highly placed sources say the Oasis Forum is ferrying people from the northern circuit for the November 28 protest. While this remains unverified, it raises uncomfortable questions. If outrage is genuine, citizens come on their own. When protests require logistics from faraway regions, it begins to look less like a public uprising and more like political mobilisation with a moral badge. That perception, whether accurate or not, damages the credibility of the message.
The next step is clear. Let the march proceed. Let the President host the dialogue. Let the submissions be published. Let Bill 7 be tabled in Parliament. Let MPs debate it. Let the country see who stands for what. Zambia cannot afford a culture where any group that refuses to engage declares a national veto. That path will destroy reform, paralyse governance and turn every future amendment into a street contest.
The Constitution belongs to all citizens, not to one church, one forum, one faction or one administration.
For reactions, write to editor.peoplesbrief@gmail.com.
© The People’s Brief | Editor-in-Chief
This Editorial is on Point…
What exactly is causing discomfort to the opposes?
Is it the sanitization of illegal public misuse of government coffers?
Is it the closure of LOOPHOLES in the theft of medical supplies?
Is it the possibility of allowing previously excluded regions to have equal access to development funds?
Can any person involved in corrupt practices lead a credible protest against the constitution amendment that seeks to remove ambiguities in the constitution?
Bishop Banda and the OASIS Forum are one and the same and they cannot be allowed to execute their promise of making Zambia ungovernable because they were found wanting in the saga of possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime. One Hilux for the Head of the biggest church in Zambia and one hilux for his perceived concubine.
What moral standing can such a Bishop promote?
Over twenty million Zambians cannot be held hostage by a few individuals.
The UPND brief masquerading as a People’s brief seem to be behaving in an “insane” and confused manner.
Firstly there’s no way people can be feried from what they are calling the Northern Circuit to come and protest in Lusaka. Which northern Circuit is this? Just because the Chair of the Zambia Conference Of Catholic Bishops ( ZCCB) is the Kasama diocese Arch Bishop does not mean protestors are coming from Northern Province. This is an Oasis Forum Protest.
Lusaka has enough Zambians to demonstrate against the Illegitimate and unconstitutional Bill 7.
Presenting the 28th November Demonstration as a Northern Circuit Protest is an insult to the many Zambians from all parts of the country who are agrieved by the way this Constitutional Amendment is being done.
The “UPND brief ” is calling for the presentation and Publicising of the Submissions, and presentation of this to Parliament.
Parliament is adjourning on Friday 5th December. The Technical Committee ended it’s sittings on 13th November, 2025. In two weeks you expect this committee to collate the submissions and present this to the President in a meaningful form . When does the public read the Submissions?
And what does the President do with the Submissions?
Hand them over to the Ministry of Justice to Prepare another Bill or what?
Meanwhile there’s the illegitimate and unconstitutional Bill 7 at committee stage in Parliament. What does the Minister of Justice do? Withdraw the Bill 7 so that it can be Amended to take into account of the submissions of the people and then take the Amended Bill 7 back to Parliament and then through all the stages.
Is this Possible in 5 working days?
This is Total confusion. This is not the way Constitutional Amendments are done in a normal country.
The people of Zambia have been saying that there is simply no Time to engage in Constitutional Amendment Misadventures before next year ‘s Presidential and General Elections. Defer the exercise to next year after the Elections when there will be enough time to handle the process as a normal country.
But Hakainde can’t listen.
Let me watch him now, as he faces a Protest, and time limitations to carry out his Constitutional Amendments.
If Zambians were animals they would be Chameleons. They do not have a permanent colour. If they were Birds, they would be Ostriches. They like to play Hypocrite and bury their “heads in the sand”. We are deeply tribal and hateful. We have perfected our denial and pretence that we are not tribal. KK tried “One Zambia One Nation” but it is just a “Hollow” Slogan. You know it, I know it.
The submission sounds good and to the point, even it’s neutrality and fineness but I am not comfortable on the protest part.These people must not protest twice, they firstly protested by not participating and due to freedoms and rights you want to encourage them or allow them to inconvenience road users by creating unnecessary road traffic and to give the police a laborious work of monitoring them and to protect them from opposing section of society who may not be happy with their actions.It sounds abnormal to allow people to protest against submissions they haven’t read.We have not read them and the President has not yet seen them yet.The technical committee has not presented the submissions to any body I believe.They are still working on them.These are the challenges of democracy, the executive is sometimes abused.I take this behavior as just a dislike or hate for government by some individuals.They better use the ballot if they don’t like the government and put their prefarred government.
We believe this matter is also in Court, the ConCourt and, if so, ostensibly for the second time pending determination. The ConCourt had RULED first time that there was not enough publicity and/or inclusivity. The Applicants are therefore having a second bite at the cherry. Unless the argument is different this time, it is unlikely that the Applicants will succeed.
UPND WENT AHEAD WITH DEMONTIONS IN CHINGOLA WITHOUT HINDRANCE JUST LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN ALLOWED WITH OR WITHOUT POLICE NOTIFICATION EACH TIME THEY FEEL LIKE DEMONSTRATING. THE BILL 7 PROTEST IS ALSO A FORM OF DEMONTRATION AND THE ORGANISERS HAVE GONE THROUGH THE DUE PROCESS OF NOTIFICATIONS. IT WILL BE WRONG FOR THOSE OPPOSED TO THIS DEMONTRATION TO JOIN IN BECAUSE DEMONTRATIONS ARE DONE BY LIKE MINED PEOPLE OVER AN ISSUE OR PROGRAM. UPND CADRES MUST STAY OUT OF THE WAY BECAUSE THEY ARE LIKELY TO CAUSE CONFUSION.
LIKE MINDED
Keep on guiding the poor in mind!!