GUEST ARTICLE: “HH FACES HIS BIGGEST TEST: HAS THE PRESIDENT BECOME WHAT HE FOUGHT AGAINST?”
By Michael Zephaniah Phiri Political Activist
A political storm is sweeping across Zambia and its centre is none other than President Hakainde Hichilema. The nation that once rallied behind him is now asking a blunt, uncomfortable question:
Has President Hichilema turned into the very leader he spent years fighting?
The outrage is loud and widespread. Citizens remember a man who marched boldly against Bill 10, who defended protesters, who demanded transparency, and who vowed never to manipulate the Constitution for political convenience.
Today, those same citizens watch with disbelief as Bill 7 is pushed forward under a cloud of secrecy, confusion, and resistance from the very people who trusted him with power.
Worse, the President’s message to the public has shifted from “ *the people must decide” to “go to court or wait for Parliament.”*
This is not the language of a reformer.
This is not the language of a democrat.
This is the language of a leader losing touch with the very citizens who lifted him into State House.
And the unresolved, lingering issue involving former President Edgar Lungu continues to hang over the nation like a dark cloud. A government calling for dialogue cannot afford to be seen as avoiding dialogue. It cannot lecture the country about unity while failing to resolve one of the most sensitive national matters within its own reach.
The public sees the contradiction.
The public feels the double standards.
And they are speaking up.
When the Women’s Forum confronted the President, they did not whisper. They did not tiptoe. They stood firm and delivered a message the entire country has been waiting for:
“ *Withdraw Bill 7. Take it back to the people. Follow the proper process.”*
This was not defiance.
This was accountability.
Because if constitutional amendments were wrong under Bill 10, then they are wrong under Bill 7 — unless the rules only matter when someone else is in power.
Zambia’s constitutional history — from 1964 to 2016 — has been shaped by negotiation, consensus, and genuine national dialogue.
Never by force.
Never by one-sided declarations from the top.
Mr. President, consistency is not a luxury it is the foundation of leadership.
And Zambia has reached a moment where the truth can no longer be dressed up:
*You promised better.*
Zambians expect better.
And they will not apologise for demanding better.**
Bill 7 has become a symbol not of progress, but of political drift. A symbol of a government forgetting its own words. A symbol of a leadership losing the trust it once commanded effortlessly.
If President Hichilema wants to prove he is different from those who came before him, then the path is clear:
*Withdraw Bill 7.*
*Restart the process.*
*Respect the people.*
Because if the President ignores this moment, history may record it as the turning point when the New Dawn dimmed and Zambia realised that promises, no matter how bright, mean nothing without the courage to keep them.